3 fires reported in same area in 3-hour span: Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service

Winnipeg firefighters had a busy start to their long weekend, after responding to four separate fires in a 24-hour period, including three that happened within blocks of each other in the city's North End on Friday afternoon.

The fourth fire took place early morning Saturday in the Crestview neighbourhood, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said in a Saturday news release.

The first was a fire at a single-storey building in the 500 block of Selkirk Avenue, between Powers and McGregor streets, shortly after 1 p.m., according to the news release.

Flames and smoke were seen coming from the building, and firefighters attacked the blaze from inside the building. That fire was under control before 1:30 p.m., and no injuries were reported, the department said.

Shortly before 2:30 p.m., firefighters responded to another fire inside a two-storey home just to the south, on the 400 block of Stella Avenue.

They managed to bring that fire under control shortly before 3 p.m. Firefighters searched the home to confirm no one was inside, and no injuries were reported. Students at a nearby school were temporarily kept inside out of concern for air quality, the fire-paramedic service said.

Fire crews then responded to a report of a fire just before 4 p.m., at a commercial building in the first block of Robinson Street, just southeast of the fire on Stella. 

That fire was declared under control shortly after and no injuries were reported.

And just after 6 a.m. Saturday, fire crews fought another blaze at an apartment building on Hamilton Avenue, in west Winnipeg's Crestview neighbourhood. That fire was mostly extinguished when they arrived, but the building was checked to ensure the fire had not spread further, the fire-paramedic service said.

Paramedics treated five people at the Hamilton Avenue fire, who were then transported to hospital in stable condition. Occupants of the affected suites were helped to find other housing, while all other occupants were able to return to their suites.

The four incidents remain under investigation, the department says. Damage estimates and the causes of the fires are not yet known.

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