Flames at a homeless encampment created a large plume of black smoke across city skies Monday, highlighting one of three sites that has triggered complaints over repeated fires.
Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews were sent to a blaze in the 400 block of Assiniboine Avenue around 6:20 p.m. Monday and brought it under control by 6:41 p.m.
“Crews encountered thick smoke when they arrived at the scene,” a WFPS statement said.
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A person stands outside an encampment at the foot of the CNR Main Line Bridge Tuesday morning.
The fire did not spread to nearby buildings and no injuries were reported. The cause is unknown, WFPS said.
Several residents recently told the Free Press encampments on Assiniboine, Waterfront Drive and Balmoral Street suffer from frequent fires that destroy trees and put nearby properties at risk. Some called on the city to issue a vacate order, which would require encampment residents to leave the site, due to safety concerns.
A WFPS official said no such orders have been issued in 2024 and the service works to avoid them.
“Vacate orders can be disruptive and traumatic to the individuals living in the encampments. So, we do try to use those as a last resort,” said Lisa Gilmour, assistant chief of community risk reduction.
Gilmour said fire prevention officers assess encampments on a “pretty much daily” basis and provide residents advice on how to safely stay warm and avoid other hazards.
“We try to work with the individuals living in the encampment and the (outreach) service providers that are attending the encampment on a regular basis to try to address the concerns about fire safety that we’re seeing on the site before we move to the vacate order,” she said.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
The remains of part of an encampment in Fort Douglas Park near Waterfront Drive and Galt Avenue after a recent fire.
The city’s policy notes a “pattern of persistent behaviour that is a risk to life and safety” could lead WFPS to direct encampment residents to leave.
WFPS responded to two other small encampment fires Tuesday morning on Waterfront Drive, which were also quickly extinguished with no injuries reported, the service said.
Gilmour said she did not have data available to determine if the encampment fires are now happening on a daily basis.
Coun. Cindy Gilroy said WFPS is doing good work with encampment residents but the city should also push for more temporary housing.
She suggested adding units that provide a bed, some privacy and storage space to the current shelter system.
“It becomes a temporary home, while we deal with the issues (homeless people are facing),” said Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre).
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service works to avoid issuing “vacate orders” to encampments, like this one in Fort Douglas Park.
She hopes that would help create safe indoor spaces that make it easier for people to leave encampments.
“We’re failing them in terms of people being warm in the wintertime … We have to move people inside to make sure they have a safe environment,” said Gilroy.
The WFPS will also roll out a new dispatch system early next year.
The service says 911 calls will be triaged into a system with five priority levels instead of the current two.
Calls that received an immediate response in the past may no longer get the same priority.
Only Priority 1 calls will receive a “lights and sirens” response, while some low-acuity calls could be referred for travel to hospitals without an ambulance.
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
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