A residential fire is always a scary and dangerous thing, people might get hurt or killed, especially children and elderly citizens since they are not able to react fast and evacuate the building by themselves.
On Saturday, January 19th a fire happened in the residential area in Winnipeg. The apartment burst in flames in the area of London Street and Antrim Road, thankfully nobody got injured and all tenants managed to escape the building safely.
The fire department representatives were called for some electrical problems in the building when arrived, crew members investigated and found a problem in the main electrical panel, the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service said in their official statement. The panel was turned off and while waiting for Manitoba Hydro smoke and flames broke out inside a unit.
All the residents of the apartment were safely evacuated and no one was injured, but there’s no timeline on when they’ll be let back in.
Luckily this incident didn’t leave anyone hurt, but people now have no place to stay, while the fire crews remain on scene and worker clearing up the location. Now the tenants of the complex have to figure out where they will sleep before they can get back home.
Unfortunately, residential fires in Winnipeg happen quite often, but unlike in this case, caused by the electrical problem, many of those fires caused by residents, who in many cases were under drug influence at a time of incidents.
Last Monday, January 14th a fire broke out in the Maryland area, just a day after the fire on Ellis Avenue.
According to the company, which manages both facilities, two large fires in apartments in Winnipeg`s the West End were caused by drug use.
“Both of these fires were drug-related,” said Mike Romani, president of Armor, a company that manages 626 Ellice Avenue and 426 Maryland Street. Romani says he believes that one of the fires was specifically related to the use of methamphetamine.
“Both fires began with the burning of the couch,” he said. “Both tenants organized parties in apartments, and according to reports, they [set fire] to couches.”
Dozens of people still have no shelter after these fires. One building was completely freed from tenants and in the other, there are several apartments that need to be renovated.
Romani said it was not the first fire started by someone who used drugs, but this is a rapidly growing problem.