Demolition ordered after fire in vacant city home

A Winnipeg firefighter was assessed by paramedics and an emergency demolition was ordered after a vacant house caught fire Thursday morning for the second time in less than three months.

The two-storey home, at Argyle Street and Disraeli Freeway, in South Point Douglas, was boarded up following a blaze that occurred June 1.

Firefighters returned to the house after flames were reported shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday. The house was engulfed when crews arrived.

“Due to heavy fire conditions, crews were unable to enter the structure,” a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service spokesperson wrote in an email to the Free Press.

Crews used an aerial ladder to spray water on the fire while battling it from outside the home. The blaze was brought under control shortly before 9:30 a.m.

Paramedics assessed one firefighter at the scene, the WFPS said. No other injuries were reported.

The house had severe fire, smoke and water damage. The WFPS arranged an emergency demolition because the building was unstable, and to help crews find and extinguish hotspots.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Northbound Disraeli was reduced to one lane at Lily Street, just east of Main Street.

In a Facebook post, Nick Kasper, president of United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, shared videos and photos of the home’s roof and top floor engulfed in flames while crews sprayed water on the blaze.

“Winnipeg fire crews from last night’s shift are working overtime this morning to extinguish a well-involved fire in a vacant home,” Kasper wrote at about 7:30 a.m. “Initial-arriving crews attempted an aggressive interior attack but were forced to withdraw due to deteriorating and unsafe building conditions.”

Kasper asked drivers to use caution and slow down while passing firefighters and vehicles at the scene.

“Please watch for firefighters, apparatus and other emergency personnel in the area,” he wrote.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca