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Residents of an apartment block in Winnipeg’s Charleswood neighbourhood had to evacuate their homes Wednesday after a unit on the first floor caught fire.
“The smoke was just coming through the elevator shafts and hitting all the floors,” said Ashley Preece, who lives on the seventh floor of the apartment block on Hendon Avenue.
“It started going into my apartment really badly.”
The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to the eight-storey apartment block on Hendon Avenue just after 5 p.m. Wednesday, district chief Al Solinske told CBC.
They arrived to find smoke coming from the suite, where they evacuated one individual, he said.
Preece, who uses a wheelchair, heard about the fire from her home-care worker, who was leaving her apartment when she noticed the fire.
“You feel trapped and the only person that can help you is the person with an elevator key that can bring you down,” she said.
Crews quickly had the flames under control, Solinske said. Heavy smoke and charring damaged the suite.
“The only damage throughout the building was basically smoke,” said Solinske. “It’s going to take a little bit of time to clear it out.”
Audrey Fehr, a sixth floor resident, said a resident was being evicted earlier on Wednesday. Six hours later, she said she heard the fire alarm.
“I just went down the hall to a stairwell with less smoke and left and saw the suite on fire on the main floor,” said Fehr.
She said she could see the flames coming from the unit when she got outside.
“That was scary,” she said.
Preece also said sheriffs were at the building Wednesday trying to evict a man.
“It ended in a fire,” she said.
Representatives from Manitoba Housing, which operates the block, were seen outside the building Wednesday evening.
Fehr, who has lived in the block for five years, said though there are a lot of false fire alarms in the building, the building has caught fire before.
“There’s been other fires here, lot of social issues. Lot of stuff goes on here,” she said.
Most residents left the building themselves, Solinske said. One person was brought to the hospital in stable condition, the city later said in a release.
Paramedics assessed five individuals, the city said.
“For the most part, the fire was put out very, very quickly and it was just a matter of clearing out the smoke,” Solinske said.
Solinske said most of the smoke is out of the building, and it’s expected residents can re-enter their homes Wednesday evening.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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