Fire forces residents out of infamous Winnipeg rooming house

Residents of a notorious Winnipeg rooming house were chased out by a fire on Monday.

Shayne Metraux, who lives in the building on BalmoralStreet betweenCumberland and Notre Dame avenues, said he heard the alarm going offand went to look for smoke.

He found it billowing out the back staircase on the second floor so he grabbed his cat and went aroundbanging on doors to alert others residents about the fire.

District fire Chief Bruce Melnyksaid crews were called just after 11 a.m. to the multi-unit building and found a suite on the main floor "fully involved" in flames.

Fire had also travelled through the walls, damaging another suite and spilling smoke through the rooftop, he said, adding he expects the two suites to be uninhabitable.

While crews were battling the fire, a man started hollering for help from a window on the second level, Melnyk said. A rescue unit got him out and the man was sent to hospital for evaluation,listed in stable condition.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and Melnykhad no estimate yet of the damage.

Metrauxsaid Monday's fire wasthe third one in the past couple of weeks at therooming house, which hasbeen nicknamed Murder Mansion for the number of homicides that have occurred there in recent years.

He isn't certain how many people live in the building, saying numerous people come and go.

"A lot of dangerous people hang around. People are being stabbed and people are being punched, so I just barricade my door at night," saidMetraux.