Cat dead, 3 houses damaged after Wednesday morning fire in Winnipeg

Winnipeg Fire Rescue Services says a cat is dead after a fire damaged three houses on Cobourg Avenue Wednesday morning.

WFPS responded to a report of a fire around 6:40 a.m. By the afternoon, Winnipeg fire crews were still on scene in the Glen-Elm neighbourhood.

The blaze was described as a “very stubborn fire” by Darren Bayluk, the acting district chief for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Services (WFPS).

When crews arrived at the scene, they found a two-storey home fully engulfed, with the flames already spreading to the two neighbouring homes, and the garage behind.

Firefighters began working their way inside the home where the fire originated, but were forced out due to the conditions of the blaze. Due to this, efforts quickly turned to a defensive approach until conditions improved. Once they did, firefighters were able to re-enter, at which point they found a cat dead inside the home.

The fire inside the garage and one of the homes, another two-storey home, was quickly extinguished by firefighters.

The other home, a one-and-a-half-storey home, had worse conditions, which again forced fire crews to take up a defensive effort to protect additional houses from catching fire.

Those living inside the homes were able to evacuate safely, and no one was taken to a hospital. One firefighter suffered minor injuries and was treated by paramedics on scene.

CityNews spoke to nearby residents, who said they heard what was described as a loud explosion early in the morning.

“My husband was sitting out here on our deck having coffee, and all of a sudden he said he heard this boom,” explained Sandy Danis, who’s lived in the area for nearly 40 years.

Danis was one of many in the neighbourhood who went to see what happened. She also claims another resident reported a suspicious individual walking behind homes prior to the start of the blaze.

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“Reported to the police this morning that he saw a guy walking in the lane with two jerry cans, that’s unusual, that is out of character in our neighbourhood,” Danis said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and the total cost of damages is not known at this time.

“We have the fire investigator K-9 unit on the scene working in correlation with a second fire investigator. They are doing their best to determine what the cause was,” said Bayluk.

Two of the homes suffered significant damage, while the other and the garage sustained moderate damage.