Manitoba heritage home a total loss following fire

A heritage home in St. Andrews dating back to before the founding of Manitoba is now a complete loss following an early morning fire on Thursday.

Fire crews were called to The Firth House at 546 River Road shortly after 8 a.m.

“The initial report was that there may be somebody trapped inside,” said Fire Chief Ken Peacock with the RM of St. Andrews.

“We made contact with the homeowner's brother. They confirmed that there was nobody inside the building. So, the building is a complete loss. We're just taking appropriate action now and knocking the rest of the building down. There's nothing else we can do with a complete loss.”

Images from the scene show multiple firefighters working and lots of smoke pouring into the sky. Peacock said the building was filled with “a lot of debris,” which impacted how they fought the fire.

There were no injuries reported.

The Firth House, also known as the Hay House, was designated a provincial heritage site in 1987.

The house was built in 1861 by Thomas Firth, a labourer with the Hudson Bay Company.

Gordon Goldsborough, head researcher with the Manitoba Historical Society, said Firth only lived in the house he helped build briefly. It changed owners multiple times, and in 1911, it was purchased by E.H.G.G. Hay, who was a member of Louis Riel’s provisional government and served in the first Legislative Assembly in Manitoba.

"(He helped) create some of the early foundations of government here in Manitoba, so I think he is clearly one of the more significant political figures in early Manitoba history," Goldsborough said.

The province said the home was one of only a few remaining stone houses from the Red River Settlement era.

"(Losing) any old house like that is a loss," Goldsborough said.

The Firth house remained privately owned since being declared a historic site but had fallen into disrepair. Area residents told CTV News the property had been the subject of municipal cleanup orders in recent years.

Goldsborough said he hopes more will be done to protect the remaining historic homes from that era.

“I think it's the history behind them that's the fascinating part,” he said.