Winnipeg emergency crews battle 5 fires in 6 hours Saturday morning
Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) crews were busy Saturday morning, responding to five different structure fires within several hours.
The first blaze broke out at 12:50 a.m. at an industrial building on Sutherland Avenue between Maple Street North and Argyle Street North.
When crews arrived, they found the structure engulfed in heavy flames and smoke. They launched a defensive attack using an aerial ladder truck and hand lines to deploy water. An excavator was also brought to the scene to move debris and help find hotspots.
The blaze was extinguished around 6:11 a.m., no injuries were reported.
The multi-storey structure was vacant and had previously been gutted by a fire on July 4, 2023. After that blaze, the building was deemed a complete loss due to extreme fire, smoke and water damage that left large sections of it partially collapsed. Since then, it’s been the site of several other significant fires, according to WFPS.
WFPS crews responded to a second structure fire in a single-storey commercial warehouse and office building in the 1400 block of Inkster Boulevard around 1:42 a.m.
After launching an interior attack against the smoke and flames, the fire was declared under control shortly after 2 a.m.
No one was found inside the building and no one was injured.
An hour later, around 3:07 a.m., WFPS were called to a large fire outside a commercial structure in the 500 block of Dufferin Avenue.
Several passenger vehicles and a semi-trailer unit were engulfed in flames when crews arrived. The fire also damaged electrical lines that fell on the building and were arcing.
WFPS personnel worked to prevent the blaze from stretching to the nearby building and ventilated smoke from inside. Manitoba Hydro crews were also on-scene to disconnect the electrical lines.
The vehicles and semi-trailer are considered complete losses, while the building sustained minimal heat damage. The fire was declared under control just after 4 a.m.
At 4:10 a.m., firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke coming from a vacant one-and-a-half-storey house in the 1300 block of Manitoba Avenue.
No one was inside and no injuries were reported. It was declared under control around 4:42 a.m.
An hour later, a blaze broke out at a garage in the 700 block of Flora Avenue. According to WFPS, the adjacent house on the property is vacant and has sustained extensive damage from previous fires.
Crews extinguished the flames and the blaze was declared under control shortly before 6 a.m. No one was injured in the incident.
All five fires are being investigated and damage estimates are not available at this time.
WFPS is also reminding residents to refrain from driving over a firehose while crews are responding to an emergency. They said it is an offence under the Highway Traffic Act and “doing so can create unsafe conditions for firefighters and put others in the vicinity at-risk of serious injury or death.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Oh my God, you're my brother': Man in his 70s discovers 6 unknown siblings
After receiving a DNA kit one Christmas from his son-in-law, Hugh McCormick soon discovered that he had six unknown siblings, with whom he shared the same birth parents.
No refund for travellers who cancelled flight already scrapped by airline: regulator
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Rates of cancer declining in Canada, but more work needed to save lives: projections
A new study projecting declining rates of cancer cases and deaths in Canada demonstrates the success of prevention and early detection programs, but also highlights areas where more work is needed to save and prolong lives, researchers say.
Canucks hold off Oilers for 4-3 win in Game 3
Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks hung on for a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Man fatally 'slashed in the neck' in downtown Toronto, suspect outstanding
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise's disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.