Fire crews to work overnight to battle St. James area blaze

Fire crews are expected to be working throughout the night after a commercial building in Winnipeg's St. James area went up in flames on Monday afternoon.

Flames could be seen pouring from the two-storey warehouse building in the 500 block of Roseberry Street near St. Matthews Avenue shortly after 4 p.m.

Mark Reshaur, an assistant chief with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, said the fire started just after 3:15 p.m., but it's not clear yet what started it. Nobody was in the building at the time and no injuries have been reported, he said.

Firefighters started with an offensive attack but had to leave the building as conditions worsened, he said.

The roof of the building had collapsed by Monday evening and all the exterior windows were gone, Reshaur said. Fire crews couldn't get too close because the walls could collapse outward.

"We're basically surrounding and drowning the fire and I expect it'll take most of the night to extinguish the fire," Reshaur said.

"It's a very large two-storey warehouse with no roof and compromised exterior walls. All the windows are out and the walls are cracked and buckling inwards."

Reshaur said the building appears to be a total loss.

As the fire got worse, Reshaur said a full second-alarm complement was dispatched, plus an extra ladder: 10 engine companies, two rescue teams and three ladders were all at the scene.

Firefighters will work on shifts overnight until it's under control, he said.

"We have to really pay close attention to health and welfare of our people while they're on the scene," Reshaur said. "Right now, the big concerns are exposure to the smoke and exposure to the cold. We'll be rotating crews through on a regular basis to make sure we keep 'em warm and try to keep 'em dry."

Winter weather doesn't make the job easier, he added. As of 9 p.m. on Monday, Environment Canada said the temperature at the Winnipeg airport was –25 C with a windchill factor of –34. 

"The cold's a big factor in this fire in that it just complicates everything we try to do," he said.

"Our water supply, we have to be careful because our hoses and hydrants will freeze up, our pumps will freeze up and our people will freeze up. We have to be very careful to not overextend ourselves and make sure that we're rotating crews through on a regular basis."

Some streets in the area were closed to traffic on Monday afternoon.