Simcoe Street house fire claims boy, 5
9 people, including 5 children, taken to hospital on Thursday
A five-year-old boy died after a fire at a house on Simcoe Street that also sent several other children to hospital on Thursday.
The child was taken to hospital in critical condition after firefighters were called to the house, between St. Matthews Avenue and Portage Avenue, just before 6 a.m.
Crews found heavy smoke pouring out of the building when they arrived. By 6:23 a.m., the fire was declared under control.
Multiple people got out of the home before crews arrived, but nine people had to be taken to hospital, including five children.
Four adults were taken to hospital in unstable condition, while the other four children were taken to hospital in stable condition. As of Friday, all other victims of the fire had been upgraded to stable condition, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release.
Quentin Mentuck said the four children still in hospital are seven months, three, eight and 14 years old.
Mentuck said his cousin was one of the four adults inside the home when the fire started,
"It was kind of devastating to find out what had happened, and when I initially found out that my cousin was in a fire and that he went in to rescue his family members," Mentuck told CBC News. He said news of the fire and the child's death is a shock to the family.
Mentuck added that his cousin suffered some burns to his body and was on a ventilator for a period of time, but is expected to be released from hospital.
He was later notified that the boy had died at hospital.
The family is now looking for a new place to live, and Mentuck hopes there will be a GoFundMe page to help support the family, but a decision on that has yet to be made.
Police and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service continue to investigate the cause of the fire, although police said it doesn't appear to be suspicious.
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