‘Raining ashes and embers’: Under-construction home in St. Boniface destroyed by large fire

Gerry Lessard does not have to look far to find items on his property damaged by the blaze – they’re all around him.

“This used to be a plastic 10 by 12 shed, which is totally gone and all the contents,” said Lessard, giving CityNews a tour of the damage. “We had rugs that we put on our deck, the grass rugs. We had rugs from our trailer, a few other odds and ends, heaters. My shed there is going to be a total loss. Our fence, obviously.”

A large fire at an under-construction St. Boniface home Tuesday morning sent embers raining onto neighbouring properties, including Lessard’s. He described the blaze as a “two-storey bonfire.”

“Everything here that you see behind me, all the ashes were falling on it and it burnt everything, burnt and melted,” said Lessard, who has lived in St. Boniface for 37 years. “The lawn tractors got damaged. All these chairs, my wood box is totally warped and melted. And of course, this thing is done. These chairs also are all damaged.

“The trailer’s got the air conditioning covers all warped. The clearance lights at the back have warpage in them. I haven’t been on the roof, but it’s a rubber roof. So the way the embers, you can see here, you can see on the ground how many embers were flying around.”

The under-construction home next door is slated for demolition. The cause of the fire remains unknown. CityNews reached out to the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service but did not immediately hear back.

“It was literally raining ashes and embers, big, big chunks. As you can see my yard, it’s a polka dot yard. It was unbelievable,” said Lessard, who is now working with his insurance company to sort through the damage and begin repairs.

“I thought maybe I’d take the garden hose and kind of try to protect stuff. But the heat was so hot that there was not a chance I was doing that.”

No one was injured in the fire, which is under investigation.

Lessard is questioning how the fire started, given there was no heat source and “no power at all” at the under-construction home, according to him.

“The guys take all their stuff with them when they go, their compressors and all their tools,” he said. “And we’ve had a few issues in this area in the past. A lot of transient people running back and forth all times of the night. So can’t say. I’ve got video cameras in the back and we didn’t catch anything.”

The blaze should revive a conversation about an underpass at Marion and Archibald streets, according to Lessard.

“There was only one fire truck and I was asking the firemen, ‘why is there only one fire truck?’ ‘They have others but they’re stuck behind the train.’ So while this thing was still just starting to go, by the time they got here it was fully involved.

“So too bad we didn’t have an underpass at Marion Street like they wanted to do a couple of years ago. They would have got here faster.”

A $566-million Marion-Archibald underpass project was put to bed by city council a decade ago, namely for its ballooning price tag. Lessard feels it could have limited the extend of the fire damage.

“With respect to reports about a train delay, we do not have information to share at this time,” a spokesperson for the city said in an email. “We can confirm that 911 communications dispatches the closest available crews. In the event of a delay, dispatched crews may be adjusted.”

The City of Winnipeg says an updated Marion Street improvement study was presented to council last year, but any construction — which would only move forward in segments — would still require funding and further design work.

“This is always backed up every morning. Marion’s backed up,” said Lessard. “They’re putting 2,800 units at the other end over there. It’s going to be a disaster.”