Vacant home in Point Douglas earmarked for affordable housing destroyed by fire - Action News
Home WebMail Thursday, November 14, 2024, 03:08 AM | Calgary | 6.3°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Manitoba

Vacant home in Point Douglas earmarked for affordable housing destroyed by fire

A Point Douglas resident is disappointed after a vacant home that was supposed to be turned into affordable housing was destroyed by a fire Saturday.

2 other unoccupied Winnipeg houses catch fire in less than 24 hours, city says

A home with broken windows and burn marks on the outside.
A vacant home in Winnipeg's Point Douglas neighbourhood caught fire Saturday. The home was supposed to be turned into affordable housing. (Walther Bernal/CBC)

A resident of Winnipeg's Point Douglasneighbourhood is expressing theirdisappointment after a vacant home therethat was supposed to be turned into affordable housing was destroyed on Saturdayby a fire.

"We were so happy that, you know, all these houses were coming back to the community, and now there's one gone," said Katherine Bitney, community resident and advocate.

The provincial government announced earlier this year it would sell sixhomes in Point Douglasthat were seized as part of a drug-trafficking investigation to non-profits or Indigenous organizations. The groupswould buy each home for just $1 and then renovate them into affordable housing.

But after the Saturday fire left one of the homes on Lisgar Avenue damaged beyond repair, Bitney just hopes no home will fall to a similar fate.

"I'm really sad about that," she said. "That's not good news for the community."

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to the blaze at 9:38 a.m. Saturday, the city said in a release.

Crews started putting out the fire from the inside of the home but were forced to leave and attack the flames from the outside after things kept heating up. They had the fire under control at 1:19 p.m.

No occupants were found inside the home, and no injuries were reported, the city said. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

2 other vacant homes catch fire

ThePoint Douglas incident is the third vacant home fire in the city in the past 24 hours.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to a fire at a North End home on Flora Avenue at 3:21 p.m. Friday. Crews had the fire under control at 3:39 p.m.

The windows of a home on Elgin Avenue are boarded up.
A vacant home on Elgin Avenue caught fire Friday. (Walther Bernal/CBC)

Crews responded to anotherfire in the Centennial neighbourhoodat 11:10 p.m. Friday. The fire at the home on Elgin Avenue was under control at 12:09 a.m early Saturday. The same home also caught fire in May, the city said.

No one was found inside either home and no injuries were reported.

Both Friday fires are also under investigation.

With files from Erin Brohman