House in William Whyte neighbourhood demolished after 2nd fire this year
Winnipeg fire crews have responded to nearly 200 fires at vacant buildings this year, union president says
A boarded-up house in Winnipeg's William Whyte neighbourhood that caught fire last summer burned again Thursday night, and it has since been demolished.
The fire paramedic service carried out the emergency demolition because the blaze compromised the house's structural integrity and to make sure all hot spots were extinguished, the city said in a news release.
Fire crews responded to reports of a blaze at the house on Pritchard Avenue, between Aikins and Andrews streets, around 6 p.m. Thursday, the city said.
Heavy flames and smoke made the house too dangerous to enter, so firefighters battled the blaze from outside and worked to extinguish the fire overnight. Smoke was still coming from the home on Friday morning.
No injuries have been reported.
A neighbouring home was temporarily evacuated as a precaution, and the city said its emergency social services team were on scene to offer support to residents.
The cause of the latest fire is under investigation. The home also caught fire in June with no injuries reported.
The fire was declared under control about an hour after firefighters arrived, but two people were taken to hospital in stable condition, the city said.
The cause of this fire is also under investigation.
Fire crews responding to more fires at vacant buildings
The president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg said fires in vacant or derelict buildings is a worrisome trend, and it's only going in one direction.
"It's very concerning and we want this trend to reverse itself as soon as possible."
The year isn't over yet, but when he last checked around Halloween firefighters were closing in on having been to 150 fires at vacant buildings. Bilous estimates the final tally will finish around 200 by year's end — up sharply from the 150 such calls in 2023, and from the estimated 100 five years ago.
He believes the increase is tied in large part to timeliness.
"If people have these buildings and they're fixing them up … first of all, they need to secure the job site so that nobody else is getting in — proper, high secure fences — and get them ready for housing quickly, not a two, three-year project," Bilous said.
He also thinks buildings deemed uninhabitable or irreparable should be torn down immediately.
"It's just inviting this sort of behaviour," he said.
Bilous says most of these types of calls firefighters attend aren't fires deliberately set, but rather the result of homeless people trying to stay warm.
The city has introduced fines against property owners for fires in vacant homes, but Bilous said he'd like to see the city provide more proactive approaches to dealing with the problem.
An incentive to property owners in the form of tax breaks for properly securing a site being renovated or one that requires immediate demolition is one idea he floated.
And as fire crews respond to more fires at vacant or boarded-up homes — on top of the 100,000-plus emergency calls they receive — the toll it takes on them rises, according to Bilous.
"It has put immense stress and fatigue on our crews and it's a testament to their work ethic and amazing that [almost] nobody's been hurt or worse," he said.
One firefighter was injured and taken to hospital in stable condition after battling a commercial blaze in the Lord Selkirk neighbourhood early Thursday morning.
"These are very tough on our members — physically of course with fatigue and injury ... and emotionally," Bilous said. "When you're going to fires in these places every other day it can have a psychological impact."
With files from Nathan Liewicki