Owner of Transcona storage lot demolished in fire sues city, RM

The owner of an industrial storage lot destroyed in a massive blaze has filed a lawsuit against the City of Winnipeg and the Rural Municipality of Springfield, arguing firefighting efforts were inadequate and negligent.

The fire at the Gunn Road lot produced huge plumes of black smoke that could be seen across the city on the afternoon of May 12, 2025. The north Transcona blaze left melted metal, burnt-out vehicle frames and soot on the property, where people rented plots to store and salvage old cars for parts and scrap metal.

The numbered company that owns the property, 10104753 Manitoba Ltd., filed a statement of claim in the Court of King’s Bench late last month, naming the city and RM as defendants. The company rented out parts of the property to others and stored its own vehicles there.

The lawsuit claims the company lost more than $400,000 as a result of the alleged negligence and breaches.

The blaze began as a wildfire nearby, before spreading to the property, where hundreds of old vehicles were engulfed in flames and destroyed. Some industrial buildings in the area were damaged, too.

“The fire burnt with such vigour as to melt much of the vehicles down to their chassis,” reads the claim. “All of the motor vehicles on the property were completely destroyed, melted and/or burnt to the ground.”

The court filing says the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service was alerted to a grass fire in the area and was warned that stored vehicles were being threatened by the fire.

City firefighters first extinguished a small brush fire outside the property and then called in the Springfield Fire and Rescue Services for additional firefighting equipment due to a lack of available water supply, the court filing claims. The RM is adjacent to the area, which is on the northeast edge of the city.

“All of the motor vehicles on the property were completely destroyed, melted and/or burnt to the ground.”

“The plaintiff states that WFPS and/or (Springfield’s fire service) made a negligent operational decision in response to the fire, by only establishing a control line encircling the property and failing to suppress and extinguish flames burning hundreds of vehicles and their toxic materials into the ground,” the lawsuit claims.

The two fire services actively took measures to protect adjacent properties, the court papers allege.

The suit claims the fire services had the resources and opportunities to extinguish the fire at 568 Gunn Rd. and that officials knew or should have known the blaze would result in environmental damage that would require extensive remediation.

The city and municipality are also accused of negligence and breaching their duty of care to provide “reasonable firefighting services.”

The lawsuit alleges the fire departments failed to conduct an adequate assessment of the scene, failed to implement a fire attack plan that could have prevented extensive damage to the property, failed to take all reasonable steps to deal with the fire and failed to act with good faith.

Further, the company claims, the city and municipality’s alleged negligence resulted in its loss and damages related to soil degradation and environmental contamination at the property.

After the fire, the provincial environment department issued an order to the property owner to hire a qualified environmental professional to assess the site, which included soil sampling.

The assessment found higher-than-acceptable levels of several chemicals and concluded the plot required remediation work. A provincial spokesperson said in October that work had been completed.

The property owner also alleges that fire suppression efforts were hindered by the city’s “inadequate” water supply through its fire hydrant infrastructure. The lawsuit accuses the city of negligence in how it designed and maintained hydrants in the area.

“The city owed a duty of care to the plaintiff and surrounding property owners to design and maintain public infrastructure in accordance with the risks in the area that would enable proper and effective firefighting,” the claim reads.

“There was a lot of issues pertaining to that property that were concerning.”

Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt would not comment directly on the lawsuit, but he said the Gunn Road property was “very disorganized.”

“If (the owner’s) concerned about fire suppression, that’s great, however, how the heck were our fire trucks going to get in there in the first place? The lot was not properly laid out for fire (safety),” said Wyatt.

“They had to use drones to be able to identify areas of the fire, because they couldn’t get in and out of the site properly… We’ll see what happens with the statement of claim, but the reality is, there was a lot of issues pertaining to that property that were concerning.”

Wyatt added he thinks city bylaw officials “dropped the ball” on taking action at the property and others in the industrial area prior to the blaze, as did provincial environmental and health and safety officials.

The company’s lawyer, Jason Kendall, would not comment Wednesday on the lawsuit. Officials from the City of Winnipeg and RM of Springfield declined comment.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca