Recalling downtown Winnipeg’s largest fire

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2024 (489 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

June 8, 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of one of Winnipeg’s most spectacular fires. The Time Building blaze on Portage Avenue destroyed three buildings, severely damaged two others, and cost millions of dollars in damages.

The seven-storey Time Building was located on the northwest corner of Portage Avenue and Hargrave Street. It opened in 1909 as the Builders’ Exchange block and in 1940 was extensively renovated by new owners and rechristened the Time Building.

By 1954, the main floor retail level contained the J. J. H. McLean piano showroom and offices of Canadian National Telegraphs. The upper storeys housed dozens of small offices rented out by lawyers, real estate agents, insurance brokers, and several furriers and jewelers.

Shortly after 1 a.m. on June 8, 1954, the Winnipeg Fire Department received a call about smoke and flames coming from the Time Building’s main floor. When firefighters arrived, they found the blaze was in the false ceiling of the main floor and was difficult to access.

Another complicating factor was the weather. Thunderstorms had rolled into the city the day before and by midnight wind speeds had reached 80 km/h. This fanned the flames through the Time Building and sent embers onto nearby streets.

The building began to collapse and rained burning debris onto neighbouring buildings, which then caught fire. By 6 a.m. the blaze was a three-alarm fire with 207 firefighters and 26 vehicles on hand to battle it.

A major concern for firefighters was the massive Eaton’s department store, which stood kitty-corner to the Time Building. It would have burned for days and likely ignited the buildings around it if fire had penetrated it. Fortunately, the store had its own fire suppression system and night staff hung hoses from the roof and upper storey windows to create a wall of water to protect it. Heat and debris broke 82 of the store’s windows – but it did not catch fire.

The fire burned throughout the day and into the next. In the end, the Time, Dismorr and Edwards blocks were destroyed and the NorLyn and Affleck blocks were severely damaged.

Dozens of small businesses and offices were wiped out and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet lost decades of sets, costumes and sheet music when its warehouse space on the top floor of the NorLyn building was destroyed.

The fire damage to real estate alone was estimated to be nearly $3 million. Remarkably, there were no serious injuries or deaths. The fire department believed the fire may have begun in wiring that ran through the main floor false ceiling to one of the illuminated retail signs on the building’s façade.

Over time, the Time building site was filled with a multi-storey furniture store and a bank. Those two buildings are the home of APTN, and a new Dayton’s department store replaced the destroyed one. Within a few years, the scars from downtown Winnipeg’s largest fire disappeared.