Fatal Furby Street fire being investigated as homicide: Winnipeg police

Winnipeg homicide investigators are looking into a man’s death after a fire on Furby Street over the weekend.

The victim has been identified as 33-year-old Johnathen Joseph Tait of Winnipeg.

The Winnipeg Police Service says the decision to investigate the death as a homicide followed the completion of a post-mortem examination.

The victim was taken to hospital in critical condition Saturday morning after the fire at a home on Furby Street near Sargent Avenue. He died of his injuries in hospital.

Two other individuals were injured in the blaze; they were taken to hospital in stable condition.

“It was about 5 a.m. this morning, my husband heard screaming ‘jump jump jump,’” neighbour Alaina Eveleigh told CityNews on Saturday. “About 25 (minutes) after 5 a.m. he wakes me up and tells me the house is on fire across the street.

“Just black smoke and the ambulance, emergency team taking people out, and it was just awful.”

The fire was declared under control before 6:30 a.m., with the home sustaining significant damage.

WATCH: One dead, five injured in two separate fires in downtown Winnipeg

—With files from Temi Olatunde