Early morning fire destroys 2 duplexes in Winnipeg

A pair of vacant duplexes in Winnipeg's North End face demolition after they were gutted by flames Tuesday morning.

Fire crews were called just before 2:30 a.m. to the neighbouring buildings on Manitoba Avenue between McGregor and Andrews streets.

When they arrived, both structures were already engulfed in fire, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service Platoon Chief Brent Cheater said.

Flames were beyond the roof lines and lapping at neighbouring homes, he said.

As crews pulled up, the roof of one of the buildings collapsed.

A second alarm was immediately put in to get additional crews, while police evacuated other houses in the neighbourhood, Cheater said.

A Winnipeg Transit bus was brought in to provide temporary shelter for those who had to leave their homes.

It is believed both duplexes were vacant, as they were mostly boarded up. That, combined with the intensity of the flames, makes the cause more than a little suspicious, Cheater said.

"For a fire to get going that quickly, it probably had a little bit of help," he said.

After the fires were extinguished, crews searched inside one of the duplexes but they haven't gone into the other one because it is structurally unsafe.

Gas, power and water supply lines will be disconnected this morning and demolition is to begin immediately afterward. Cheater expects the buildings to be gone by noon.

"This is our way of preventing further damage and further risk to the neighbourhood. We're getting them down to a pile of rubble."

Two neighbouring homes sustained some damage from heat and water, a news release from the city said.