Main Street Project’s buildings on either side of fire-destroyed Manwin Hotel ‘mostly intact,’ grateful agency director says

The smell of smoke was nothing new to Michaela Ivall. But when it began to fill Main Street Project’s shelter in the middle of the night Wednesday, she knew this time it wasn’t just someone lighting a cigarette.

Before long, she, her husband Jonah Bedard and 35 others were on two city buses dispatched to the scene of a large blaze at the neighbouring Manwin Hotel, so people evacuated from the Main Street Project’s overnight shelter could keep warm.

“It’s traumatizing,” Ivall said, standing outside the Freight House Community Centre at 200 Isabel St. Thursday, a small cup of soup in her hand and her husband by her side. The Freight House was one of several places MSP staff scrambled to find for the 150 or so shelter evacuees.

“I don’t want to say I’m traumatized, but at the same time we are, because we were more worried about getting extra jackets and sweaters out of our bags because people don’t have stuff.”

The evacuation was quick, and most possessions, including clothing and valuables, had to be left behind.

“We left our laptop there, our cellphones there, our money, wallets,” Ivall said.

Bedard said they initially assumed it was a small fire and expected to be allowed back into the shelter within an hour or so. Just last month, he said, someone pulled the fire alarm in the middle of a cold night, forcing a temporary evacuation.

“So hopefully we’re back in there in the next day or so,” he said.

The couple have been homeless for the last year or so, they said, forced onto the streets after the home they were living in burned down.

Bedard hasn’t been able to work since losing several fingers to frostbite. Ivall said she was a personal support worker at one time, but lupus made it difficult for her to work.

“And now it’s just too expensive for housing,” Ivall said. “It’s difficult to find.”

The morning after the fire tore through the vacant Main Street hotel, the executive director of the neighbouring homeless shelter was taking stock and feeling grateful.

“This could be a lot worse for our buildings. They seem to be mostly intact,” said Main Street Project’s Jamil Mahmood, speaking outside the shelter at 637 Main.

The agency’s administrative offices are a few steps north, on the other side of the lot where the Manwin used to be, at 661 Main.

A pile of frozen and charred rubble and debris sat behind a fence Thursday morning, and the sides of both MSP buildings were blackened from smoke. Firefighters were still blasting water at the rubble to put out hot spots underneath.

“All in all, with how big that fire was, (we are) feeling quite grateful,” Mahmood said.

He extended his gratitude to firefighters, emergency responders and nearby shelters that mobilized quickly to accommodate the people who had been using the shelter’s overnight space.

Those not taken to the Freight House were moved to other shelters, including Siloam Mission and N’Dinawemak.

People accessing Siloam’s shelter said Thursday it was full.

Some who were enjoying the milder weather said the space became chaotic Wednesday evening as an influx of people sought a place to stay after Main Street Project was forced to close its doors.

“We’ve had to register very early to make sure we got a bed,” said one woman, who did not give her name. Not everyone was able to do so.

“You just sort of hang around,” a man said, adding that he was offered a blanket despite not having a bed to sleep in.

Steve Breton, Siloam’s director of safety and operations, said the shelter has been feeding about 600 people per meal service since the Manwin fire, up from between 300 and 400 previously.

He said the biggest increase, however, was in overnight shelter use.

“Where we are usually about 230, (Wednesday night) we were over 400,” he said. “Luckily, our sector partners have provided us with additional staff. We had six extra staff, which worked out phenomenally, and then tonight we’re also going to have two from MSP. That will alleviate some of the chaos that is created with all the extra people.”

In a release Thursday afternoon, MSP said it hopes to reopen its overnight shelter Friday evening. The building sustained minimal damage, and water in the basement will not interfere with shelter services.

“I think our admin building and our food bank will take a little bit longer,” Mahmood said. “That might be a couple of weeks. We are just getting assessments done right now. But in the shelter, the main floor wasn’t affected very much.”

He said cleaning equipment was being brought in Thursday, along with efforts to pump out remaining water, most of which had drained overnight.

“We don’t have internet… but the power remained intact and functioning, so the building is warm, and all the systems are functioning otherwise,” Mahmood said.

In its release, MSP said the admin building received more extensive damage, and much of their food bank and donation items are a total loss. Until further notice, the weekly food bank will be closed.

Main Street Project previously installed concrete board along the shelter’s north-facing wall, which ran alongside the hotel. He said that likely helped protect the shelter from more serious damage.

The roof will have to be assessed, but he said there are no signs of any leakage inside the facility.

He said clothing donations for 200 people were sourced from other shelters and delivered to the Freight House.

“In the coming weeks, when we reopen that, we will need a lot of donations to get back to our stock levels to meet our community needs,” he said. “It is winter, and everybody needs winter gear in this time.”

Mahmood hopes the soon-to-be vacant lot next door will eventually be turned into housing.

Main Street Project is currently working on a second-storey, 150-space expansion to its current shelter location.

— With files from Mike Deal

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca