Manwin Hotel in Winnipeg burns down

A fire broke out at the Manwin Hotel — a building that’s been part of Winnipeg’s downtown for more than 140 years — in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

While no one lives inside the building, the impact spreads beyond it, as out of caution, the neighbouring Main Street Project was evacuated, leaving roughly 150 people without shelter.

The Manwin Hotel was established in 1882, and as of recently, it’s been vacant for a year.

It was once a residence for dozens of people, but over the years, it’s been a hub for city inspectors and was often closed temporarily for health hazards.

“Firefighters immediately began exterior defence of attack operations because this fire was so well involved that it was unsafe to enter the structure,” said Christian Schmidt, Chief of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Services.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said, “It’s always very, very unfortunate when we lose a heritage building in the city. But I think what has happened today is proof that we made the right call when shutting down the Manwin a year ago.”

Corey Fillion has been living at the Main Street Project for the last two months. He was part of the evacuation and described his experience.

“The fire alarm went off, and I said who the hell pulled the fire alarm. But then I knew it was serious when the staff came and said it’s a real fire, everyone get out,” said Fillion.

“I also had to wake a couple of people up and say, ‘Hey, it’s a real fire. You only have a few minutes before the smoke gets you.’ And the firefighter said, ‘Yeah, get out, or we’ll drag you out,’”

It was more than just the Manwin that felt the devastation of the fire, with the Main Street Project forced to fully evacuate.

“The city sent over two buses, we loaded 37 people onto buses, the rest of the folks we took over to Silo Mission, Salvation Army, N’Dinawemak, and we sent staff over there to support. And then we set up a pop-up site with Emergency Social Services with the City of Winnipeg,” said Jamil Mahmood, the executive director of Main Street Project.

Main Street Project says their plan for now is to have 75 sleeping spaces and 25 drop-in spaces for the rest of the day and overnight at their temporary location. As for the fire, the cause is still under investigation.

-With files from the Canadian Press