Rooming-house fire kills two

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This article was published 07/07/2016 (3616 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Point Douglas rooming house in which two people died in a fire early Thursday was a known trouble spot to area residents.

Community activist Sel Burrows said the house at 186 Austin St. North was the last remaining “problem” house on Austin Street.

Burrows said while Austin has been remade over the past nine years into a quiet, hospitable street, the house at 186 Austin was known as a “rough house” with frequent, loud partying and the occasional drug dealing.

“Austin Street used to be one of the worst crime streets in all of Winnipeg,” Burrows said. “Over the last nine years, between the community and working with authorities, it really cleaned up.

“On that block, this was the only (house) that was still a problem… It’s rougher.”

Firefighters rushed to the burning three-storey rooming house at about 1:40 a.m. The structure was “well involved, and crews hit the exterior with large-volume water lines” before entering, said a spokesman with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service. When inside, firefighters located one male who was already dead.

Crews continued to battle the blaze and then entered the building a second time, finding another male victim who was dead.

The ages of the victims were not released.

The rooming house, across the street from the Immaculate Conception Parish church, was destroyed.

Winnipeg Police Const. Rob Carver said about 15 people were evacuated from the rooming house, although he couldn’t say if all were residents. Several were treated in hospital. 

It was the city’s second deadly fire in less than eight hours. On Wednesday about 6 p.m., firefighters pulled a man in his 50s out of a home on Aberdeen Avenue at Charles Street. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition, where he died.

Carver said the fire on Aberdeen is believed to have started in the kitchen and is not considered suspicious. 

A civic spokeswoman confirmed the house was a licensed rooming house.

Audrey, a neighbour, said the rooming house had become “party central.” She, along with numerous others, had complained to the house’s landlord.

“Lots of drug activity, lots of fighting, lots of noise, lots of arguing,” she said.

She estimated there were seven suites inside the house.

Burrows said neighbourhood residents believe the fire was linked to the drug dealing that had been going on in the house. Residents in the house, he said, were often getting drunk or stoned and having loud parties and arguments.

“Yesterday, the community support unit of the police were in my kitchen talking to me about general issues in Point Douglas, and this house was one of the issues. They were showing their frustration because they’d been in the house quite a few times but not able to apprehend anybody.”

Area residents knew little about the house or its ownership, Burrows said, adding he’s feeling guilty more wasn’t done to pressure the owner to clean it up, as was done with other trouble spots in the neighbourhood. The fire, he said, was a shock to the neighbourhood.

“We thought we had enough social controls in the area that this kind of thing wasn’t going to be happening,” Burrows said. “I feel personally guilty… I should have done more about this address because we knew it was a problem. We didn’t put pressure on the owner to smarten the place up, which is what we normally do.”

A civic spokeswoman said the Austin Street rooming house was last inspected by fire inspectors in November 2013 and was considered to be fully compliant in February 2014.

The spokeswoman said there are 176 licensed rooming houses in Winnipeg.

The spokeswoman said there is no longer a requirement for annual fire inspections of rooming houses. Licensed rooming houses used to be inspected every two years, the spokeswoman said, but that requirement was removed in late 2008 with the introduction of the Neighbourhood Livability Bylaw.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service in 2015 committed to inspecting all licensed rooming houses on an annual basis. However, the spokeswoman said the WFPS only carries out inspections for new-owner licences or when acting on complaints. 

Couns. Janice Lukes and Ross Eadie said they want bylaw officers to accompany fire officials when inspecting rooming houses. Their proposal is being considered by a civic committee Monday. Burrows said he supports the plan and will speak to the committee.

A rooming-house fire on Austin Street N. in July 2011 killed five people. Three others narrowly escaped. Lulonda Lynn Flett, 41, pleaded guilty to five counts of manslaughter and one count of arson.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca