Salvation Army centre room damaged by fire

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This article was published 11/11/2022 (1296 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE quick actions of staff and firefighters prevented serious injury and substantial damage to the Salvation Army Winnipeg Centre of Hope after a room caught fire early Friday morning.

“Our staff were there right almost immediately and contained the fire to one room,” Mark Stewart, Salvation Army Winnipeg’s executive director, said by phone Friday. “If a fire alarm goes off, we go directly to the room, make sure there is a fire, and start evacuating at the same time. Luckily the fire department arrived shortly after.”

Firefighters responded to the call around 4:27 a.m., the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service said in a press release.

Located at 180 Henry Ave., the Centre of Hope is seven stories high. Due to its size, several crews responded. Upon arrival, firefighters saw flames and heavy smoke within the building, but had the blaze under control in roughly 25 minutes.

While fire crews did evacuate the building, they allowed residents to return to their suites once they determined it was safe. Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured, with paramedics treating one person and transporting them to the hospital in stable condition, WFPS said.

“Of course there was a bit of damage to the room, but it didn’t damage anything else,” Stewart said, adding the hospital trip was precautionary and the resident was unharmed.

Investigators have not determined the cause of the fire, but Stewart believes it was likely caused by an item being left to close to a heater.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca