Dozens of Indigenous people, who are in Winnipeg for medical treatment, remain shut out of a six-storey medical accommodation facility because its elevator motor caught fire.
The tenants, some of whom need acute care, others who have long-term chronic conditions, had to leave Keewatin House on Keewatin Street near Logan Avenue when smoke started coming out of the elevator shaft July 4.
Executive officers Ken Carroll and Gwen Flett of Cormorant Group, which operates three medical housing facilities in the city to accommodate people from northern Manitoba and Nunavut, said the evacuation went smoothly.
Indigenous patients in the city for medical treatment had to move to other facilities after the elevator motor at Keewatin House Lodge (86 Keewatin St.) caught fire July 4.
“We’ve practised and organized for drills and staff went directly to people with wheelchairs and amputees to get them out first,” Carroll said on Tuesday.
“All of our staff have radios so they were able to stay in touch with each other.”
Flett said their clients who use wheelchairs and other mobility issues have been housed at either their facility on Burnell Street or Sherbrook Street.
“Everybody is OK,” she said.
Carroll said people who are able to go up and down stairs have been given the choice of returning to Keewatin House or waiting until the elevator is repaired.
“It is potentially up to two weeks for repairs,” he said. “They are going to try to expedite it, but the motor had to be rebuilt.
“We’re anxious to get people back.”
Ryan Tyndall, an Indigenous Services Canada spokesman, said staff worked with the facility to relocate clients.
“The safety and well-being of those being impacted is our highest priority,” he said.
Tyndall said Keewatin House is one of 34 commercial accommodation providers in Winnipeg. He said clients don’t have to pay for the cost of the accommodation because the provider bills the government directly.
Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service spokeswoman Erin Madden said when firefighters arrived, they found smoke in the elevator shaft and traced the fire to a mechanical room.
“The fire was quickly extinguished using a water pump can,” Madden said.
“Crews reset the building’s alarm system, before clearing the scene. None of the suites was damaged by the fire so there was no need for any long-term evacuations.”
No one was injured during the incident.
Carroll praised the handling of the incident by fire crews.
“The fire department had a strong reaction to this incident. They don’t assume anything,” he said.
“They double-checked everything to make sure.”
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
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