Two Winnipeg firefighters were recovering Tuesday from extensive burns and other injuries from the same house fire that claimed the lives of two of their colleagues.

Senior firefighter Edward Wiebe, 51, remains in critical condition Tuesday at the Health Sciences Centre.

'All burn patients need multiple surgeries. Recovery can be registered in the years.' —Dr. Ed Buchel

But Alex Forrest, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, said doctors have determined Wiebe's lungs and respiratory tract are not as badly burned as they had first thought.

"It's much better today than it was yesterday for that firefighter," said Forrest, who learned of the good news late Monday.

Firefighter Lionel Crowther, 33, has been transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular hospital ward, Forrest said. Crowther remains in stable condition with burns to about 30 per cent of his body. Wiebe sustained burns to 70 per cent of his body.

Dr. Ed Buchel, the head of plastic surgery at the Health Sciences Centre, said both officers will have a long road to recovery ahead.

"All burn patients need multiple surgeries," Buchel said. "Recovery can be registered in the years. We never expect them to recover to normal."

Meanwhile, a private funeral for Capt. Harold Lessard will be held Thursday. Forrest said a public memorial to honour Lessard, 55, and Capt. Thomas Nichols, 57, is being planned for next week.

As their bodies heal, Forrest said, Wiebe and Crowther will have to face an additional recovery process related to the deaths of Lessard and Nichols.

"These guys, just learning pretty much today and late yesterday that their colleagues have died, is pretty tough on them," he said.