‘This has become the normal’: Vacant house fire threatens nearby Winnipeg businesses
Posted August 20, 2026 6:56 pm.
The owner of a business right next to a vacant property that went up in flames in Winnipeg’s South Point Douglas says he’s frustrated.
Tyler Sigurdson, the owner and operator of Iron Age Strength on Heaton Avenue, says the recent blaze at the vacant property on Argyle Street threatened surrounding homes and businesses.
“It’s so high risk,” said Sigurdson, who just relocated his business to the neighbourhood in January.
“It would take nothing for that fire to spread to the business next to it. The place across the street, the place in the back lane, whatever it might be. And then it becomes a much bigger problem than just that one house burning down.”
Sigurdson says the neighbourhood is getting better with more derelict buildings coming down, but he thinks more should be done.
“When there’s fires being started and when there’s garbage and drugs being left behind and kids and youth around here too, we need to think about them as well,” he said.
Crews were called to the house on Argyle, just off the Disraeli Freeway, just after 6 a.m. They arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the building. The fire was declared under control roughly three hours later.
The home sustained severe structural damage and was demolished as a result.
“Unfortunately, no surprise or shock to anybody. This has become the normal here in Winnipeg,” said Nick Kasper, the president of Winnipeg’s local fire union.
The City of Winnipeg says, so far this year, 628 tickets have been issued for failing to comply with a vacant building bylaw order, and 60 provincial offence charges have been handed out during the same timeframe.
Kasper says the statistics are staggering.
“We have the highest rates of property and life loss to structure fire anywhere in Canada,” he said. “We have some of the slowest response times in the country. And unfortunately in 2026, we’re into the double digits for fatalities already, which is five to six times the national average.”
The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
