A Winnipeg man who found two friends unconscious inside an exhaust-filled car — in an incident that police say claimed the lives of one person and a pet dog — was in disbelief Sunday.
City police said the deaths of an 84-year-old man and the dog are believed to have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning when the car’s tailpipe became blocked by snow and fumes filled the vehicle.
A 67-year-old man, who also was in the car, was taken to hospital in critical condition, said police, who are treating the incident as an accident.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
The rear of 688 Nassau Street South Sunday, January 26, 2025. Two men and a dog were found in a vehicle behind the building.
“They were good neighbourhood buddies,” said Mike Condra, who discovered the men and the dog in a station wagon in a small parking lot behind an apartment building at 688 Nassau St. S., between Arnold and Hethrington avenues, in Lord Roberts. “It’s really too bad that it happened.”
Condra was walking to a grocery store at about 2 p.m. Friday, when he noticed the 67-year-old man’s car was backed up at an odd angle close to the building.
The rear passenger side of the car was in a snowbank, he said.
“I kind of paused and looked, and thought, ‘Is there somebody in it?’” Condra said.
When he moved closer, he noticed the 67-year-old man, who appeared to be leaning forward, in the driver’s seat. The man didn’t move when Condra shouted in an attempt to get his attention.
He then noticed the 84-year-old man in the front passenger seat, while he continued to approach the car.
No one moved when Condra tapped on the driver’s side window, so he opened the door.
“At which point, I could just smell exhaust. I was just like, ‘Oh no,’” he said.
Condra called 911 on his cellphone, and shouted at another passerby to help remove the men from the car.
The driver appeared to be breathing faintly when he was pulled from the vehicle, Condra said.
He said he was unable to find a pulse when he checked on the passenger.
Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service members arrived a short time later and began treating the pair.
Police said the dog died at the scene, and the 84-year-old man died after he was taken to hospital in critical condition.
Condra said the man who died operated the apartment building, while the man who remained in hospital was a tenant of the block.
The pair frequently went out to run errands together, Condra said.
He said the younger man often had to reverse his car toward the building in order to pull out of the small lot, which is accessible by a back lane.
“They were both nice guys,” Condra said, noting the dog, a dachshund that was found in the car’s front console area, was owned by the younger man. “(The dog) rode everywhere with them. It was (the driver’s) little sidekick.”
Condra was left with questions about how the incident happened. It was unclear how long the men had been in the car. Condra said the vehicle was not running when he found the pair.
He said the incident continued to play on his mind over the weekend.
Condra helped the older man do chores around the apartment block. He said the man, whom he’s known for several years, was kind and helped tenants.
Condra has known the younger man for a few years. Both men, who lived alone in the apartment block, celebrated his birthday with him last summer, he said.
The Winnipeg Police Service said the WFPS initially attended the scene for a medic call involving a car that was reported to be stuck in a snowbank. Police were requested to attend shortly after the WFPS arrived.
The incident is not considered suspicious, WPS spokesman Const. Stephen Spencer said Sunday.
It is being “solely treated as accidental,” he said, noting an autopsy is scheduled to determine the man’s cause of death.
Spencer said the car was “hung up” in the snow when emergency services arrived.
In response to the incident, police encouraged people to make sure the exhaust pipe is clear of snow when a vehicle is running, and to avoid sitting in an idling vehicle for long periods of time without ventilation.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching
Reporter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
Every piece of reporting Chris 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.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.