Firefighters union sounds alarm after St. Vital house destroyed, blames inadequate resources for slow response

A fire that gutted a St. Vital home and injured a firefighter Sunday evening has reignited warnings from the city’s firefighters union about dangerously slow response times.

The United Firefighters of Winnipeg says it took over nine minutes — more than double the national four-minute standard — for the first truck to reach the blaze in River Park South.

Crews were called to Southwalk Bay at about 7:40 p.m., but by the time they arrived, the fire was already out of control and had spread to a neighbouring house.

With no fire engine available at Station 26 on Dakota Street, units had to be dispatched from other stations across the city — some as far as 20 minutes away.

“This has been a recurring issue that we’ve been bringing to the media’s attention, to city council’s attention,” said union president Nick Kasper.

He said Winnipeg’s population has grown “at an exponential rate” while the fire service has not kept pace.

“We’re looking at call volumes that we didn’t think we would see until 20 years from now,” he said.

Sunday’s blaze was a stark reminder, he said, of how delays in response time can lead to worse outcomes.

The union said trucks had to be called from Stations 3 (337 Des Meurons St.), 14 (1057 St. Mary’s Rd.), 9 (1083 Autumnwood Dr.), 22 (1567 Waverley St.), and 23 (880 Dalhousie Dr.).

Kasper said it’s his understanding that the establishment of an effective fire-fighting force, with a standard of eight minutes, took in excess of 20 minutes in River Park South.

“This year is the worst we’ve ever seen it,” he said, adding that numerous structural losses have resulted from delayed response times that have been double or triple the standard.

“Sunday night was just another example,” he said. “A fire doubles in size every minute. Sunday, the fire had already consumed the entire house and had spread to a neighbouring home before the first truck got there. As such, (crews) were forced to stay outside and wait for a second truck, and it was too late (to save the destroyed home).”

Scott Wilkinson, deputy chief of fire/rescue operations with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, said in an email Monday the first crew on scene isn’t always from the closest station.

“They can be on the road already or coming from their home station,” Wilkinson wrote. “This is determined by what other incidents are ongoing and which crews and specialties are available to deploy.

“At any given time, some of those units will be assigned to calls or unavailable for operational reasons. For time-dependent calls like medical emergencies or fires, the closest fire or paramedic unit is assigned. This makes them unavailable to respond to other emergencies.”

Union president Nick Kasper said response times have been slipping for years.

“As far back as 2021, data show calls not being responded to in the appropriate amount of time, falling below the 90th percentile to the low 80s,” he said. “Four years have gone by, call volumes have skyrocketed… we know for sure it’s gotten worse.”

The city operates 40 fire/rescue units — engines, rescues and aerial ladders — out of 27 stations.

“Politicians and the service like to say that if we reduce the call volumes, it will solve the problems,” Kasper said. “Our call volumes have never gone down. It may plateau… but the population increases, the call volume increases. It’s a simple calculation.”

He said staffing shortages compound the issue. On each of the past two nights, the WFPS began shifts 20 firefighters short, calling in the same number on premium overtime.

“In total, we paid 40 firefighters at premium overtime wages,” Kasper said. “You’re spending more money to get a lower level of service and simultaneously burning out your staff. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Sunday’s fire on Southwalk Bay was declared under control shortly before 9:30 p.m. The injured firefighter was treated at the scene and did not require hospitalization.

One home is considered a total loss, while another sustained damage. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Mick Kolteski was outside preparing for guests to arrive for his daughter’s birthday when he caught the scent of what he assumed was a nearby bonfire.

“You didn’t think much of it because it’s been just smoky, in general, these days,” he said. “We were awaiting some of my daughter’s friends to come over for cake, and we got a call from a friend being dropped off by her parents, saying there was a house on fire on our street.”

Kolteski said the blaze appeared to have started in the home’s garage before quickly spreading, including to the neighbouring house.

“Everyone was just congregating across the street, just watching in awe,” he said, calling it sombre and scary, including some children crying. “You could really feel the heat. And we could see the fire trying to jump to the neighbouring home.”

The first of several fire engines arrived about five minutes after Kolteski first saw flames engulfing the garage. Everyone near the blaze had already evacuated. Crews were able to get water on the neighbouring home to extinguish the spread, but the damage was done.

“That was the biggest fear,” he said of the fire spreading, as houses on the street are quite close to one another. “Neighbours said driving in from the Perimeter that you could see the smoke billowing from St. Anne’s.”

Kolteski added that when his wife went for a walk at about 11 p.m., crews were still working to put out hot spots.

Meanwhile, the community is lending its support to the family, including a GoFundMe set up by the homeowner’s sister.

“(They) were out shopping when they got the chilling phone calls,” the fundraiser page said. “They rushed home and with their six-year-old daughter (and) watched their home burst into flames. They managed to save nothing. They’ve lost everything except what they were wearing and the groceries in their car.”