Resident shatters pelvis fleeing apartment fire in The Pas

A fire in The Pas, Man. left one resident with a shattered pelvis and more than a hundred out of their homes early Friday morning.

When local fire prevention officer Randy Manych arrived on scene at 108 Campbell Drive after 3 a.m., the fire was well involved. 

"When I took the corner around [to the building], I could see flames about six feet above the roof line," said Manych, who's currently filling in as fire chief.

"The fire started on the third floor ... when I pulled up to the site, flames were already out through the roof and across the balcony to the picture window, then burned through the floor and into the suite on the second floor. So when you stand in the second floor suite you can look up through the third floor suite and then up to the roof," he said. 

One person had to be flown to Winnipeg after jumping more than seven metres from a third-floor balcony. 

"I don't know if i want to call it panic or a misjudgment, but they had jumped out their window, three stories," Manych said. "From what I understand, [the person suffered] a broken pelvis and some other injuries along with it." 

Another person may have jumped from a balcony closer to the ground, he said, but was not injured. 

With only mild water damage to the first two floors, some people could be back in their suites within a week or two, but others could be out much longer, Manych said. ​

He estimates 110 to 115 people are out of their suites, and at least 14 roof rafters will need to be replaced. "It could be repaired — but it is quite intense. In the meantime, everybody is out."

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It won't be easy for many of those people to find another place to stay in the community of about 5,500, approximately 520 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. 

"In The Pas, you have almost no vacancy at all. We have no capacity, so it's not easy to find an apartment," Manych said.

There's also smoke damage to some of the suites after evacuees left doors open behind them. 

"The third floor ... is very damaged from the heavy smoke," Manych said. "Because of course, when the fire broke out, when the people left, the door was left open."

Red Cross provides food, lodging

Jason Small, spokesperson for the Red Cross Manitoba division, said a personal disaster assistance team has set up at the local Wescana Inn to determine what people displaced by the fire need.

So far they're providing lodging and food to some, and had met with 22 people by noon. 

The program is intended to provide assistance for the first 72 hours after a disaster, Small said. 

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Manych also says this is the latest example of bad news for The Pas. In August, Tolko announced it would shut down its paper mill in the town, putting more than 300 people out of work. That mill has since been sold to Canadian Kraft Paper Industries Limited, and will remain open.

But the town is still dealing with the news from August that Aseneskak Casino plans to relocate to a larger market in the province, and the effects of last summer's closure of the Port of Churchill.

"The Friday the 13th and the full moon last night didn't help any of our causes, that's for sure ... it's been an ongoing battle, I guess, since August for sure," Manych said.

"But we're in the North because we can survive whatever comes our way and I think we're doing a good job of it."

The Office of the Fire Commissioner is investigating what caused the fire. 

"It definitely happened in a suite. And the actual cause will be announced in some time," Manych said.