Fire destroys vacant Point Douglas Greek Orthodox church

A vacant church in Point Douglas damaged by several recent fires suffered a final blow Monday night.

Firefighters arrived at the scene near the intersection of Main Street and Euclid Avenue at about 6:15 p.m. to find the building, Holy Ascension Greek Orthodox Church, engulfed in smoke and flames.

They were able to fight the fire only from the outside because the building was not safe to enter, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said.

The low temperature hit -20 C as firefighters battled the blaze through the evening before it was declared under control at about 1 a.m.

The building, reduced to a roofless, burned-out heap, is a complete loss, WFPS said.

“I’m kind of desensitized to it at this point. It’s sad, but I have to be,” church secretary Stephanie Sarlakis said, speaking outside the ruined structure.

Sarlakis, who visited the building to take photos and assess the damage, said the church has been plagued by repeated break-ins, thefts and fires in recent years that drove the congregation away.

It has officially sat vacant since September, following a blaze in June that caused extensive damage to the basement and banquet area, she said.

The church was also damaged by fires at a neighbouring Main Street building in 2021 and 2023.

“It has caught fire multiple times since the original fire, so, yeah, it is a death sentence, Sarlakis said.

Monday’s fire struck on the eve of Orthodox Christmas, exacerbating the pain of former parishioners who scoured social media for updates as the house of worship burned, she said.

Holy Ascension did not have insurance on the 85-year-old building, which had been denied coverage because of damage to its roof, boiler and other infrastructure.

The group of approximately two dozen people who frequented the church have largely resorted to hosting services in their own homes since last summer. The property had been listed for sale and a potential buyer had been interested.

“Unfortunately, it just is what it is at this point…. It’s still so fresh. Today is Orthodox Christmas, so we’ll regroup after the holidays and come together as a board and figure it out.”

Evidence of squatters littered the building in the months before Monday’s fire, with the interior pillaged of metal piping and wires. Discarded condoms and drug paraphernalia have also been found, the secretary said.

The previous fire in June was being investigated as arson, police said at the time.

Sarlakis said she hoped nobody was inside Monday when the blaze broke out.

In an update Tuesday, WFPS said the cause of the fire is under investigation. No injuries were reported.

About a half-hour before the church fire was reported, fire crews were sent to a home a short distance away, on the 200 block of Selkirk Avenue. The fire was declared under control about 20 minutes later. No one was in the home when firefighters arrived.

The WFPS said it was not known whether the Selkirk fire was connected with one nearby that destroyed the vacant church.

The fire service urged anybody who sees someone entering a vacant building to immediately contact emergency services.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022.  Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

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