Police investigating two recent fires at now-demolished grocery store as arsons

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This article was published 03/03/2026 (185 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two fires in less than two weeks that destroyed a North End convenience store are being investigated as possible arsons.

Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Claude Chancy said the major crimes unit is probing the blazes at Bannerman Grocery at Bannerman Avenue and Powers Street.

The first fire was on Feb. 18, and the second Monday morning. The city ordered an emergency demolition of the building Monday afternoon due to structural concerns and to “aid in the location of hot spots,” the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said in a news release.

The store’s owner could not be reached for comment.

The convenience store is the latest small business to burn in recent months. In January five people were charged after wave of extortion attempts and arsons that primarily targeted inner-city businesses.

Cora Renae Penner, 32; James Dean Herda, 33; Jahaid Hossain Maruf, 26; Jerry Marcel Martin, 49; and Lorenzo Lucas, 65, face extortion-related charges. Farhan Nabil, 29, and Jermaine Weekes, 40, remain at large.

Before the arrests, business owners in the North End told the Free Press they’re being forced to pay for protection from an organized extortion racket, or risk having their businesses set aflame.

Darrell Warren, president of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association, urged the city to crack down on the fires and the arsonists setting them.

“I think a lot of these fires that are started are mainly arsonists and less homeless people,” he said. “We need to get a grip on these arsonists.”

In 2022 the province laid charges against the owner of Bannerman Grocery and the owners of four other local businesses for selling contraband cigarettes. The province seized 543,255 contraband cigarettes from three Winnipeg residents, who are the owners of five convenience stores, the government said at the time.

The locations charged were Bannerman Grocery, Mom & Dad’s Grocery at 352 Mountain Ave., A.J. Grocery at 532 Redwood Ave., Avenue Meats at 595 Selkirk Ave., and Royal Supermarket at 689 Wellington Ave.

A 2024 report commissioned by the Convenience Industry of Canada estimated 45 per cent of tobacco sales in Manitoba are contraband, costing taxpayers about $60 million a year.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca