The use of fuel-fired heating, fire escape issues and fire alarm system issues were among the most frequent infractions found in Winnipeg rooming houses in 2017.
In total, inspectors documented 338 fire infractions in rooming houses last year.
The information comes from the release of the first report on rooming house inspections which follows a decision by the city to start doing annual inspections of rooming houses with shared kitchen and washroom facilities.
Fire inspectors completed 160 inspections on shared rooming houses last year. Twenty-seven inspections were listed as outstanding either because the property owner failed to reply to a request for an inspection or because a scheduled inspection had not yet been completed.
Top five fire prevention bylaw infractions in 2017:
Fuel-fired heating – 54
Fire safety equipment – 50
Fire escape – 32
Fire alarm system issues – 30
Extension cord misuse – 27
Forty-one per cent of shared rooming houses inspected were compliant on the first inspection, 57 per cent on the second and two per cent required three or more inspections.
Brian Hatch and Jaclyn Asham have lived in a Point Douglas rooming house for a year and feel unsafe because other tenants remove the batteries from fire alarms.
“People take them out and they take the batteries out and I gotta constantly replace them, put them back in,” said Hatch. “It's terrible."
Point Douglas Residents Committee chair Sel Burrows said the inspections are making rooming houses safer.
“In the last 18 months we’ve had three deaths from fire in rooming houses,” said Burrows. “Now that we’re getting inspections done that’s the foundation of keeping people safe in rooming houses.”
“These are really important issues that the fire inspectors have the technical skills to identify these issues and make sure landlords fix them.”
If you’re concerned about a possible illegal rooming house, the city encourages you to call 311.
You can also call 311 to report issues with licensed rooming houses.
