A vacant downtown apartment complex — once a celebrated piece of architecture now considered a community blight — burned Wednesday for the sixth time since 2021.
Black smoke poured from the south roof of Centre Village and blanketed downtown around 8 p.m., as multiple fire trucks surrounded the building in the 500 block of Balmoral Street.
Smoke was coming from the three-storey complex when firefighters arrived on scene at about 7:40 p.m., the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said in a news release Thursday morning.
Multiple fire units raced to Centre Village at 575 Balmoral St. Wednesday evening. (Wendy Sawatzky / Free Press)
Crews launched an attack that included the use of a drone to identify hotspots, the release said.
The fire was declared under control around 8:45 p.m.
Crews completed a search of the building and no occupants were found, the release said.
However, a young woman was seen exiting the complex as firefighters set up to battle the blaze Wednesday night and was questioned by police.
On Thursday morning, just hours after the fire was extinguished, people were seen inside the building.
The structure has been previously hit by fire in June 2024, March 2023, February 2023, June 2021 and January 2021.
The cause of Wednesday’s fire is under investigation, the release said.
The 25-unit complex was considered revolutionary when it opened in 2010 to house newcomers, but residents found it ill-suited to family life.
It was boarded up 12 years later and had become a magnet for squatters and drug use while politicians grappled with what to do with the structure.
In May, it was announced Manitoba Housing had donated the site to the non-profit Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corp, which would receive $2.2 million to demolish it and build 30 new units for two key groups: Indigenous youth and young adults who are leaving the child-welfare system and expectant parents at risk of being involved with the system.
The complex had fencing around it but there were breaches in several places Wednesday.
One firefighter was injured in Wednesday’s blaze and taken to hospital in stable condition.