West End woman renovates garage to deter arsonists

A Winnipeg woman is hoping some repairs and a fresh-coat of paint is enough to deter would-be arsonists in her community.

"The roof is starting to cave in a bit.There were some broken windows.It's just your classic, single, wooden, kind ofdilapidated West-End garage," said Vanessa, a long-time West End resident.

She started the renovation project last year partially to make it look nicerand partially "to save the garage, instead of building something new, because, while it is dilapidated, it's still salvageable."

But Vanessa said the recent arsons in Wolseleyput the project into high gear,"to make it a little less of a target."

This week is Arson Awareness Week in Winnipeg, and police are asking residents to take an active stance against arson by following tips like storing flammable building materials in safe places, installing lighting in your yardand calling authorities to report suspicious activity.

'I would carry on to the next one'

Vanessasaid she doesn't worry too much about arson in her neighbourhoodbut wants to do what she can to avoid being a target.

"We look at garagesand know which ones would go up in flames if you walked by with a cigarette," she said.

"I feel like, if I were going to light a garage on fire, I would look for one that was going to light up really quicklyand maybe something that was a little less maintained might be a little bit more enticing in that way.Whereas, maybe if there's something that's taken a little bit more care of perhaps I would carry on to the next one."

The plan is to give her "classic WestEnd garage"a new roof and a fresh-paint job as well asto add to the eaves. The windows wererepaired last year.

Vanessa saiddespite the recent arson cases,she doesn't think theWestEnd's reputation for arson is deserved, and loves the sense of community her neighbourhood has.

"One thing I do know about my WestEnd neighbours is that people are really proud to live in this community, and we all hurt when something like that happens," she said.