Winnipeg fire crews battle four blazes within 17 hours

Winnipeg fire crews were called to four separate blazes in the city within a 17-hour window from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning.

Three of those fires took place in the city’s North End – within a few blocks of one another – in a short span Friday afternoon.

SELKIRK AVENUE

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) was called to a home on Selkirk Avenue near McGregor Street around 1:11 p.m. on Friday. The fire was deemed under control by 1:26 p.m.

Nobody was inside at the time of the fire.

STELLA AVENUE

Around 2:15 p.m., crews were called to Stella Avenue near Salter Street for a two-storey home on fire.

Firefighters say they attached the fire from inside, used a fire suppression tool, then extinguished the fire. It was under control by 2:49 p.m.

There was nobody inside the building.

WFPS says “students at a school nearby temporarily sheltered inside the school out of concern for air quality as a result of smoke.”

ROBINSON STREET

A little more than an hour later, at 3:58 p.m., crews were called to a commercial building on Robinson Street near Jarvis Avenue.

Crews attacked the fire from the inside of the building. It was declared under control at 4:22 p.m.

No one was inside the building.

Map of Winnipeg fires on Oct. 7, 2022. (Credit: Google Maps)

HAMILTON AVENUE

On Saturday morning around 6:18 a.m., WFPS was called to extinguish a fire at a three-storey apartment building on Hamilton Avenue near Cavalier Drive.

Crews say the fire was “mostly extinguished when they arrived,” but they made sure the fire had not spread to other apartments.

Paramedics treated five people. They were taken to hospital in stable condition.

“The City of Winnipeg’s Emergency Social Services team responded to the incident. They will help the occupants of the affected suite find alternate housing until they can return to their suite. All other occupants of the building were able to return to their suites.”

The cause of all four fires is under investigation.