Warwick Apartments residents wait in wake of blaze

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This article was published 26/12/2022 (729 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some of the residents displaced by a Christmas Day blaze in a downtown Winnipeg apartment building aren’t sure when they’ll be able to return home.

The Warwick Apartments (366 Qu’Appelle Ave.) went up in flames just past 4 a.m. Sunday, forcing 42 people from the public Manitoba Housing complex.

Firefighters pulled six people from the 113-year-old building who needed to be hospitalized, three in critical condition, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said.

A Winnipeg Police Service spokesman (police are leading the investigation, as is standard with major fires) said he had no updates to provide Tuesday, including on the condition of injured residents.

City of Winnipeg emergency social services workers secured rooms at a nearby hotel for those left temporarily homeless.

Among them are Jeri Richard, 61, and Brandon Kematch, 29, who were next-door neighbours on the second floor.

The suite directly above Richard’s was where the fire began, she said Tuesday, adding she’s not sure if she’ll ever be able to return to the space she’s lived in for the past nine years.

Richard was told the floor above had collapsed into her suite. She hasn’t been able to return yet to check.

“The alarm went off first, and I thought it was a false alarm, because it usually is,” Richard said outside the Portage Avenue hotel she’s staying in.

Kematch, who lives with his 13-year-old daughter, had gone upstairs to investigate when the alarm blared.

“I ran up to the third floor to check, with (a) fire extinguisher, but it was too smoky, I couldn’t get up,” he said.

Kematch rushed to get his daughter and Richard out of the building, telling his neighbour the blaze was “serious.” His daughter is currently staying with her mother, while he waits in the downtown hotel.

His cats are at the Winnipeg Humane Society, Kematch said. “We might be here for a while, I think.”

“At first (a police officer) said two or three days, but I don’t think that’s going to be long enough to clean up all that smoke,” Richard added. “It’s pretty stressful… I just want to get back home.”

On Tuesday, window frames on the east-facing facade of the building were charred black, while police and provincial government vehicles sat parked outside its Qu’Appelle Avenue doors.

The two residents said they don’t know what to expect from Manitoba Housing officials.

“They’re too cheap,” Richard said, wondering if the authority will reimburse her for the belongings she’s lost.

The neighbours had planned to cook a turkey and ham, and have Kematch’s family over for a shared Christmas dinner.

Another neighbour fled the flames with his turkey in tow, and the pair brought him to Kematch’s grandmother’s house, where they cooked up a dinner for some of the people who were displaced, before heading to the hotel.

“The only thing that was missing was the stuffing,” Richard said.

Manitoba Housing could not be reached Tuesday for comment on the fire nor plans for the displaced residents.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera