When every second counts, should fire crews be fighting more than just flames? Some city residents are concerned after a fire broke out on Elgin Avenue last night.
The fire broke out just steps away from a hydrant, but because it was frozen solid, crews had to go down the block 10 houses to dig out another hydrant covered in snow.
Frank Leswick was the Winnipeg Fire Department platoon chief on scene.
"Because of the amount of snow that's been pushed up onto the boulevard, they had trouble locating a hydrant,” said Leswick.
According to Alex Forrest from the firefighters union, this is a common problem in Winnipeg winters.
"This is a year that it's compounded maybe 10 times than it is in other years. I've been a firefighter for 25 years and I have not seen as many hydrants frozen as I have this year. Luckily, we do this every single year, so we're prepared for it,” he said.
Each pumper has enough water to last six to eight minutes fighting a fire.
In that time, they can usually locate another working hydrant.
As a backup, they also always have another crew on standby.
For residents on Elgin Avenue, that’s just not enough. Audrey Campbell lives across the street.
"I know the city is backed up with whatever but sometimes they (have to) focus on that kind of thing. You know where are the fire hydrants? Let's uncover those. Because you never know…where a fire's going to start or what it's going to be," said Campbell.
Each city fire hydrant is usually marked with an orange pole.
On the section of Elgin Avenue, those poles were missing.
Forrest told CTV News those will be reported to the city.
Public works also monitors fire hydrant locations to see if any are buried, and the city told CTV News they come around regularly to dig them out.
As for the cause of the shed fire, that’s still under investigation on Elgin Avenue.
Winnipeg fire officials are calling it suspicious.
They said the houses on either side of the shed have been hit with $15,000 in damages from the fire.
