Point Douglas residents say they live with risks that 'would never happen in Wolseley' after industrial fire

Kendra Halabicki is still coughing up phlegm covered with black and grey spots, days after a massive industrial fire pushed plumes of smoke over her Winnipeg neighbourhood.

"I'm still struggling. I'm still coughing, especially in the morning," said Halabicki, a grocery store worker who recently moved to Point Douglas, a north Winnipeg neighbourhood where houses sit near industrial businesses such as scrap yards.

Crews were called to a fire early Tuesday morning at an industrial site on Sutherland Avenue, and spent most of that day battling a blaze that forced some residents from their homes. The site has a long history in the neighbourhood, and was once home to the Vulcan Iron Works foundries and workshops built in the late 1800s.

Halabicki, who has asthma, estimates she used her inhaler as many as a dozen times on the day of the fire because she was having trouble breathing.

Now, she's among residents worried about the long-term risks to their health posed by fires like Tuesday's.

The issue is especially important given the health risks and outcomes the community already faces, residents say — including high soil lead concentrations that as recently as 2022 were identified as needing action, and a 2019 report that found people living in the area had the shortest life expectancy of any Winnipeg neighbourhood.

Officials said Tuesday's fire burned vehicles, tires, propane tanks and other materials that were inside the building.

That highlights the fact residents' concerns about being situated so close to industry have been ignored, says Carol Hjorting, a small-business owner who has lived in Point Douglas for more than two decades.

"I don't think that we should have industrial buildings in a residential neighborhood," Hjorting said. 

"This kind of thing would never happen in Wolseley."

Smoke risks include cancer, disease

Smoke from fires like the one in Point Douglas can contain a "cocktail" of noxious gases and particulates that can get deep into the lungs, said Neil Johnston, a registered respiratory therapist and the president and CEO of the Manitoba Lung Association.

That can cause inflammation and potentially lead to long-term health problems like cancer and cardiovascular disease, he told CBC News earlier this week.

"There's sulfur dioxide gases, nitrogen oxide products, which react with water and other things in the air and cause strong acids to be formed. So you're essentially inhaling acid," he said, adding that while people with lung disease are at greatest risk, even healthy people can become seriously ill from continuous smoke exposure.

Hjorting said she's worried about what that means for people in her area — and she fears she and her neighbours aren't a priority because they live in an area where 30 per cent of residents are considered low income, according to a 2020 report.

"If you are on a lower income, it doesn't mean that your health should be compromised because of where you live," said Hjorting, who's developed a persistent cough since the fire.

"We've been exposed to toxic fumes … and sadly, I don't think anything is being done about that."

Christine Kirouac, an artist who has lived in Point Douglas for more than two years, said she's started to feel soreness in her throat and chest lately. But it's hard to know if those symptoms are a result of the most recent fire, other recent blazes in the area or one of the various sources of pollution nearby, she said.

"The trucks that are constantly in the area, they have an impact on the air that we're breathing. The noise that comes from these industries at all times of the night, they have an impact on the wellness of the community," said Kirouac, who lives on a street that has a scrap yard at its end.

"We are resilient and we just sort of move forward, but that's not to say that there isn't effects, and long-term effects, in terms of our health."

She wants more done to prevent fires in her neighbourhood — which could include cracking down on vacant buildings before they burn and actively preventing industrial buildings from housing materials like old tires and chemicals in residential areas.

"It's just crisis to crisis to crisis to crisis," Kirouac said. 

"So in order to bring the temperature down of this area, I think there needs to be a clearer approach — and respect, to be quite honest, of the people that are living here."

Residents like grocery store employee Halabicki said they also want to see more done to clean up the debris left behind after a fire, pointing as an example to a nearby Main Street location in the area still covered with rubble from a fire in February.

Point Douglas residents are proud of their neighbourhood — and wish others would see it the way they do, said Halabicki.

"You get beautiful house, beautiful house — and then you've got two that have been burned out and they're just a shell," she said.

"It's just a shame that it's being ignored."