Owner of former Vulcan Iron Works urges city to crack down on arsonists after latest fire

After yet another fire at the former Vulcan Iron Works site, owner Sheldon Blank says he’s uncertain about his next steps — but if a buyer came forward, he’d sell immediately.

Blank said Sunday the North Point Douglas property, long listed for sale, has been a burden for years. It’s become impossible to insure and has been repeatedly hit by fires.

“The punishment I’ve taken is enormous,” Blank said. “It’s beyond belief.”

Blank, who has owned the property since the 1970s, said he wasn’t notified about the most recent fire and only learned of it when he turned on his computer and saw a photo of his building. At first, he thought it was an old image, but the fire had just happened.

That blaze broke out Saturday evening at about 7:41 p.m. at the vacant multi-storey industrial building on Sutherland Avenue between Maple Street North and Argyle Street North. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded with ladder trucks and hand lines, attacking the fire from outside. A drone was also used to locate and target hot spots.

Crews remained on site into the night to ensure the fire was fully extinguished. No injuries were reported, and the cause is still under investigation. As of Sunday, the City of Winnipeg had no further updates beyond its initial release.

The property has seen a string of fires in recent years, including a major blaze in July 2023 that left the structure a total loss.

Blank once again suspects arson.

“People don’t recognize the problem can be solved,” he said, adding that efforts need to be made to target and charge arsonists. “But if we let it go too much further, the problem is going to be more difficult or even impossible to solve.”

North Point Douglas has been hit hard by fire in recent years. The area is now dotted with empty lots where historic buildings once stood.

Earlier this year, the 140-year-old Sutherland Hotel, just south of the Vulcan site, was reduced to rubble following a fire in January. It had already been shuttered after previous fires.

Just weeks earlier, the Holy Ascension Greek Orthodox Church, a few blocks north on Main Street, was also destroyed by fire.

Nick Kasper, president of the United Firefighters of Winnipeg Local 867, said fire crews are already overwhelmed heading into the summer.

”Call volumes are higher than ever, overtime costs are skyrocketing and our firefighters are burnt out,” he said.

Kasper noted that despite the strain, the city recently announced plans to cut a truck from Station 1 on Ellen Street — the busiest in the city and the one serving the North Point Douglas area.

”Estimates suggest that call volumes will increase by 40 per cent for the remaining trucks,” he said. “We need more resources, not less. The United Firefighters of Winnipeg is very concerned with what the next few months are going to look like.”

Kasper echoed Blank’s concerns about the lack of accountability for alleged serial arson in the area.

“Arsons are not going to stop until they are investigated and arsonists charged, and that is simply not going to happen until we have an appropriately staffed arson task force,” he said.

A task force was set up by the province in 1999, but disbanded in 2014.

At the time, it consisted of five firefighters, four police officers and three fire commissioner’s office investigators. It reduced arson and suspicious fires in Winnipeg by 38 per cent in its first year.

In 2024, there were approximately 500 fire investigations, a WFPS spokesperson told the Free Press in March. About 30 per cent of those were deemed to be “incendiary” or deliberately ignited.

The city was in the process of adding one full-time investigator to the roster at that time, but Kasper said the union had asked for funding for a two-person team at all times and another dog. The city has one full-time arson-sniffing dog, Scooby.

As for his next steps, Blank said he’s uncertain. In the immediate aftermath, he needs to go and replace a fence that was knocked down so that crews could douse the flames.

“We go three or four times a week to check the fencing, close the gates,” he said. “Every week, there’s a cost associated with trying to (protect the property).

“But it doesn’t make any difference. You could build the Great Wall of China and they’d still get in.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca