News briefs for Thursday, September 24, 2026

Man, 31, charged with arson after railway bridge fire

3:42 PM

A 31-year-old man has been charged with arson after a fire was set beneath a railway bridge in Winnipeg earlier this week.

Police were called to a small railway bridge near Empress and Westway avenues, where the tracks cross Omand’s Creek, around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Officers arrived to find flames and smoke coming from beneath the structure. Fire crews extinguished the blaze, while the suspect had left before police arrived.

Officers located and arrested the suspect about 30 minutes later in the 600 block of Erin Street.

The 31-year-old is charged with arson causing damage to property. He was also charged with failing to comply with a probation order in connection with an existing warrant.

Fourth emergency response service on the way

2:53 PM

The City of Winnipeg will pursue a fourth emergency response service.

On Thursday, city council cast a final vote to adopt a Winnipeg Community Crisis Response model to divert some non-violent mental health calls to 911. Instead of a police, fire or ambulance response, those calls would be handled by community agencies.

The city estimates more than 10,000 crisis-related police and fire/paramedic calls could be diverted through such a system each year, reducing the workload for emergency crews.

The city will also seek a partnership with the province to support the new emergency response.