Two sent to hospital after blaze, man charged with arson

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This article was published 28/06/2024 (461 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 27-year-old man is in custody accused of setting a fire outside a Keewatin Street townhouse early Wednesday morning that sent two residents to hospital in critical condition.

Izak Catlen Eldon Sararas was arrested later that evening, Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshyn confirmed Friday.

Sararas was in the area of Health Sciences Centre when police questioned him on an unrelated matter and later identified him as a suspect in the fire, Michalyshyn said.

Court records show Sararas has been charged with three counts of arson with disregard for life and three counts arson to property. He has no prior convictions in Manitoba.

Emergency crews were called to a fire at a two-storey townhouse apartment building at 820 Keewatin St. at 3:30 a.m. and rescued two residents trapped inside. Another eight residents were helped out of the building.

“A couch was set on fire against the building and caused significant damage … to the point one of the suites was completely engulfed,” Michalyshyn said.

The two trapped residents were rushed to hospital in critical condition. Michalyshyn could not provide an update as to their medical status.

The accused “was cautioned that charges could be upgraded if the conditions of the victims changed, that is, if they died,” Michalyshyn said.

Michalyshyn said Sararas has been charged with an additional count of robbery, after he allegedly tried to rob a man of a cigarette just 20 minutes before fire crews were called to the townhouse fire. The target of the robbery was not injured.

Police allege Sararas also set three garbage bin fires on the 900 block of Keewatin Street.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca