‘No work, no pay for us’

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This article was published 13/02/2024 (618 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Yellow caution tape blocks access to Claire Andrada-Laurente’s business. The tape runs past Bluebell Health in both directions, spanning the length of an entire strip mall.

Security guards patrol nearby. Confused customers drive into the Tyndall Park neighbourhood lot and slowly prowl by dark shop windows and “closed” signs. Then, they leave.

“I’m so stressed,” Andrada-Laurente said Tuesday.

A fellow business owner at the 1030 Keewatin St. shopping centre called her Monday morning, informing her of a building fire.

The blaze was primarily in Gill’s Supermarket, one of the strip’s central tenants. It caused Winnipeg first responders to block Keewatin Street for most of the morning.

Andrada-Laurente rushed to her workplace but, due to the blockade, couldn’t enter until later Monday.

“When I opened the back door, from the door, I could smell the smoke,” she recalled. She didn’t go inside.

The fire has impacted the entire shopping centre.

Fast food chains, ethnic restaurants, a hair studio, medical clinic, pharmacy, Autopac outlet and clothing retailers are out of commission — at their physical storefronts, at least. Those who can have pivoted to virtual offerings.

On Tuesday, Andrada-Laurente considered going back to Bluebell, to check for damage. She’s among the workers in the mall who don’t know when they’ll return to normal operations or what needs to be done to make a return possible.

She’s cancelling appointments at her massage therapy clinic “day by day.”

“The massage therapists, we are just depending on the clients. No work, no pay for us.”– Claire Andrada-Laurente

“The massage therapists, we are just depending on the clients,” Andrada-Laurente stated. “No work, no pay for us.”

Bluebell Health’s team of 13 was booked until March, Andrada-Laurente said, adding she’s hopeful the fire investigation will conclude quickly.

The investigation was ongoing Tuesday afternoon, Erin Madden, public information officer for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, wrote in a statement.

Damage to the building is “significant,” Madden noted.

“While the fire was primarily contained to the unit which contained Gill’s Supermarket, adjoining units sustained smoke and water damage,” she wrote, adding the WFPS doesn’t provide monetary damage estimates.

Andaaz Creation bookends one side of the strip mall. Owner Tejinder Bhinder entered the clothing shop Monday, but wasn’t able to properly evaluate his stock of fabrics and dresses.

“The room was filled up with smoke and bad smell,” he said.

He’s worried — smoke-damaged wares won’t sell. The family, who has insurance, may have to start from scratch to fill their store.

“I don’t know what to say. There’s no words,” Bhinder said. “Not even in the dreams (do) you think this could happen… It’s painful.

“My heart goes out to everybody in the strip mall.”

RKM Walk-In Clinic & Medical Centre’s phone line started working, post-fire, around noon Tuesday, said receptionist Monica Bedard.

“I guess patients must’ve been calling our clinic to get appointments or to come to the walk-in. Obviously, we were unable to answer those calls.”– Monica Bedard

“(Monday), I guess patients must’ve been calling our clinic to get appointments or to come to the walk-in,” she said. “Obviously, we were unable to answer those calls.”

The past two days have been “pretty chaotic” — the doctors’ office is taking as many patients as it can over the phone and is deferring people who need in-person treatment.

“It’s hard to… tell patients that we’re unsure of when we’ll be able to go back to the clinic,” Bedard said. She expects updates will come through the property manager, whom tenants have been in contact with.

Then, there’s the insurance process and repairs to be done, Bedard said. Ceiling tiles fell in the clinic. The office has water damage, and the back door has been broken.

The mall lost power following the fire; vaccines in the clinic’s fridge have likely expired, Bedard said.

However, “People have been really understanding,” she said of patients, adding word seemed to spread fast through the community.

The Free Press wasn’t able to reach representatives for Gill’s Supermarket nor the property’s landlord by print deadline.

Emergency crews first reached the strip mall around 4:43 a.m. Monday. They used aerial ladder trucks and drones to put out the fire.

Private security personnel now monitor the site, making sure unauthorized people don’t cross the caution tape. (It’s helpful for guarding the now broken doors, Bedard noted.)

Winnipeg firefighting crews also responded to fires in two vacant two-storey houses Monday morning. The houses were demolished that day, according to officials.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com