South Osborne residents spooked by recent fires

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This article was published 15/02/2022 (1339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A string of fires in vacant buildings recently has renewed concern about a century-old South Osborne apartment block that’s been boarded up for eight years.

The latest fire destroyed a vacant, three-storey apartment block at 694 Sherbrook St. overnight Monday.

Fire crews were sent to the scene at about 11:42 p.m. Monday and it burned well into Tuesday, closing down the commuter route.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the blaze is under investigation. The building, which had been damaged in a previous fire, will need to be demolished.

The recent fires in vacant buildings — at least three since Jan. 28 — make Jean Altemeyer uneasy.

She’s part of an advocacy group that has called for the restoration and protection of the Rubin Block at Osborne Street and Morley Avenue, which was built in 1914. It was shuttered in 2014 after two fires damaged the interior and a homicide occurred inside.

“(The recent fires) of course continue to sustain the community’s anxiety about that building,” she said.

“The other buildings that have been burning… both vacant buildings and occupied buildings, or if the building’s vacant, nearby businesses or apartments also lose their housing as collateral damage.”

She said she believes bylaw enforcement and other staff do a good job of enforcing laws related to vacant buildings, but she thinks the bylaw lacks teeth.

The bylaw includes standards for how a building is boarded up — the length of screws and thickness of plywood, for example — and rules on permits, inspections and fees.

“We would sure like to see the city put more arrows in its quiver for encouraging current owners to do right by their property and perhaps discourage people who may be planning to buy and let a building deteriorate until it has to be taken down,” Altemeyer said.

“It’s sort of demolition by neglect.”

Another fire ripped through part of a vacant warehouse on Point Douglas Avenue Monday morning, The building was already badly damaged by an arson last September and prior, significant fires. The Monday fire is under investigation.

On Jan. 28, fire ripped through a vacant, three-storey apartment block on William Avenue between Sherbrook and Isabel Streets. That building had been damaged by fire last July.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service spokeswoman Erin Madden noted that properly boarded-up buildings can be broken into with effort.

Anyone who sees a vacant building improperly open should call 311. If a break-in is in progress, people should call 911.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera