Neighbours shaken after man found dead in apartment fire Winnipeg’s north end

A Winnipeg man was found dead following a fire in a two-storey apartment building in Winnipeg’s north end Friday.

Winnipeg fire and paramedics (WFPS) responded to a 911 call at 1:24 p.m. reporting a fire in the 400 block of Ross Avenue.

Upon arrival, crew found heavy black smoke coming from the building and brough the fire under control in about half an hour.

Firefighters found a man in the suite where the fire started. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The tragic incident has left the neighbours shaken.

“All I can really say is that it’s really shocking, and really scary,” says Ernestine Brooks.

Hilary Herrman, who lives next door to the unit where the fire broke out says she heard loud explosions.

“I heard him go ‘Ahhhh’ and that was it,” Herrman said. “Goosebumps, very scared, petrified because I couldn’t call 911.”

Herrman, who has lived in the building for six years, claims that earlier Friday morning, she overheard a man in the unit arguing with a woman, shouting “this is my place, get out.”

Later, a man was circling around in the parking lot outside of the building screaming up to the unit “open the door, open the door.”

Herrman said that she had a friend over at the time who slept through the blasts, but in a panic, managed to get them out safely.

“‘Carroll get up get up, we have to get out of here. There’s explosions, like the building is blowing up. Get out it’s next door,’” Herrman recalled telling her friend.

Herrman said that before evacuating, she banged on her neighbour’s wall calling his name. But she says she heard nothing.

No other injuries were reported.

An investigation by WFPS and Winnipeg police are ongoing.