One dead, two hurt in Weston blaze

One person is dead and two others injured following a fire in the city’s Weston neighbourhood Sunday.

Emergency crews were sent to the blaze on the 300 block of Blake Street, where members of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service found a 44-year-old woman dead inside the home, a city news release Wednesday said.

A man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s were taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Police say the major crimes unit has taken over the investigation, though the fire is believed to have been accidental.

The incident marks the latest in a series of fatal fires in Winnipeg this year.

Earlier this month, a 41-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman died in a fire at a home on the 500 block of Langside Street. Investigators have not yet determined the cause and continue to seek video footage from the public.

In late April, 39-year-old Tristan Fraser-Smith died after a reported explosion and fire at a 16-storey apartment building on Kennedy Street. The cause of that blast remains under investigation.

Two more fatal fires were reported in February.

An 18-year-old woman and a 48-year-old woman were critically injured in a fire on Agnes Street, with the older woman later dying in hospital. Another blaze that month claimed the life of 68-year-old Gregory George Thomas in what police say was arson. Michael Patrick Gordon, 40, has since been charged with manslaughter and two counts of arson with disregard for human life.

Anyone with information regarding the Blake Street fire is asked to contact the major crimes unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or winnipegcrimestoppers.org.