Boarded-up Winnipeg social housing complex catches fire Wednesday night

A fire sent smoke furling from Winnipeg's vacant Centre Village housing complex Wednesday evening the empty social housing building's sixth fire since it became fully vacant in 2021.

The cause of the fire has not been released, but the city is investigating the incident.

A firefighter was hurt in the process of fighting the fire and taken to hospital.

This is the second fire the structure has suffered just this year. In June, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to calls of a fire in the area and found heavy smoke coming from the building. No injuries were reported.

The troubled building, originally built in 2010, has been unoccupied for several years.

The complex's design won three architectural awards but soon came under fire from critics, including tenants, who said the multi-storey apartment layout was impractical and the exterior design was unsafe.

Provincial and federal governments contributed $1.5 million toward building the $3.7-million complex,created through a partnership with the downtown development agency CentreVenture, Central Park's Knox United Church, Manitoba Housing and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

It was originally a co-operative for observant Muslim newcomers, to allow them to avoidobtaining mortgages and not violate theirfaith, which prohibitspaying interest.

Earlier this year, the province announced it would donate the building to the Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corp., an affordable housing non-profit that plans to redevelop the 25-unit complex into 30 social housing units.

The province will also contribute$2.2 million to help pay for the redevelopment.

The government promised about $577,000 each year to help the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs' First Nations Family Advocate Office and the Spence Neighbourhood Association provide new programming in the building, includingon-site support services for youth at risk of homelessness and expectant parents at risk of involvement with the child welfare system.

The units will be rented out on a rent-geared-to-income basis.

The provincial government has not yet released timelines for construction nor said when the social housing program is expected to be up and running.

In an email to CBC, a spokesperson for the province said Manitoba Housing has resecured the building after the security fence and windows were damaged while crews battled the fire, and is taking additional steps to secure the property. The spokesperson did not go into detail about what steps would be taken.

The province says it is working withWinnipeg Housing and Rehabilitation to prepare the site for demolition next week.