Southbound Main Street at Dufferin reopens as crews battle blaze

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This article was published 04/03/2023 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A fire at a residential building in the Point Douglas neighbourhood closed a section of Main Street for hours Saturday as fire crews battled the blaze.

Speaking from the scene of the fire, Platoon Chief Don Enns of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service outlined what was a busy morning for WFPS crews, who arrived at 813 Main Street around 7:19 a.m. to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the building.

“When I got here on scene (the smoke was so thick), I had trouble determining what kind of building it was. I couldn’t see,” Enns said.

Roughly a dozen occupants were inside when it caught fire. All self-evacuated, and first-responders treated two or three people at the scene, Enns said.

One person was transported to hospital in stable condition.

Fire crews partially evacuated the North Point Douglas Manor, a 12-storey senior living complex directly adjacent to the fire.

The building was not at risk of burning, but heavy smoke and wind conditions threatened its occupants.

“Our incident commander immediately put in for a second alarm, which doubles the complement of firefighters on scene,” Enns said. “Smoke did actually enter into the 12-storey building, but fire crews were able to control it.”

Roughly 80 firefighters arrived, along with nearly two dozen emergency vehicles.

Crews took extra precautions, calling in Winnipeg Transit busses to shelter some residents, and gathering others inside a room on the manor’s main floor.

Carbon monoxide detectors showed safe readings within the high-rise, Enns said.

Around 11:30 a.m. some residents had returned to their apartments and peered through the building’s windows.

Thick plumes of smoke hung in the air as crews continued to douse the building from aerial ladders. A drone equipped with thermal imaging technology hovered over the scene, scanning the building for potential hotspots and structural damage.

Southbound Main Street at Dufferin Avenue reopened to traffic around noon, while northbound Main Street remained closed into the afternoon.

Enns believed crews would remain on scene and northbound traffic would continue to be impacted for most of the day.

The taller building suffered minor damage from smoke, while the other building will be a complete loss, Enns said.

Brad Gross, a real estate agent who was selling the destroyed building, said it contained eight suites which were fully leased.

Many of the tenants had been there long term, he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Steve Pinter, who has lived across the street from the property for six years, said he noticed the fire around 7:30 a.m.

At one point the smoke was so dense, he could not see across the street, he said.

He called a friend living inside the high-rise a few hours later to make sure she was OK. She told him she’d returned to her second floor apartment, but could still smell smoke.

Pinter said nothing surprises him anymore.

“You basically have to harden yourself to live in an area like this… Instead of Main Street, we should start calling it fire street,” he said, referencing a spate of fires in the area.

The property is the fourth building to burn in less than a block radius in recent weeks.

On Feb. 11, a fire that began at Surplus Direct (843 Main Street) razed the discount retailer and two adjacent businesses, Top Pro Roofing Ltd. (847 Main Street) and Lord Selkirk Furniture (835 Main Street).

Enns was among the crews who responded to that fire as well.

“It’s sort of sad in the area because this was a thriving area, and to see these buildings that are burning, it’s unfortunate,” Enns said.

No civilian injuries were reported as a result of the February fire, but three firefighters suffered minor injuries and were transported to hospital in stable condition.

All three have since recovered and are doing well. One of the men broke his hand and is on paid leave, while the other two have returned to work. One was on the scene Saturday, Enns said.

WFPS have not released the cause of that fire.

On Aug. 17, 2021, a vacant three-storey building neighbouring Pinter’s apartment also burned down. It remains an empty lot.

Pinter fears the other destroyed buildings will suffer the same fate.

“They won’t get rebuilt,” he said. “I’ve been around this area my whole life just watching it get worse… there’s no real answer… who wants to invest a million dollars in this area?”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca