Kennedy Domingo was dozing off when he heard the fire next door.
“I heard some noise but I thought it was just wind and I looked out the window and it was the colour orange,” he said.
Domingo rushed his wife, their four children and his parents out of their Manitoba Avenue home.
“We didn’t save any of our things. Our clothes and stuff got burned,” he said. “I tried to wake them up because I was the only one still awake at that time and I saw to it we can all go out safely.”
Domingo is just thankful no one was hurt.
“Thank god we’re all safe,” he said.
“The main thing is I wanted to save our entire family and no one gets hurt, that’s the most important thing.”
Fire crews arrived to the North End home shortly after 2 a.m. Friday.
The fire started at a home under construction, but quickly spread to the houses on either side, including Domingo’s.
A total of four houses and 14 people were evacuated.
WATCH: Winnipeg firefighters battle fire in North End
The home that was under construction collapsed due to fire damage. Crews said the two neighbouring homes suffered very significant damage.
“When we arrived on-scene, conditions were deteriorating very rapidly,” said assistant fire chief Mark Reshaur.
“That’s why we immediately initiated an attack with heavy streams, to bring the fire under control.
“We essentially had three simultaneous structure fires side-by-side, so this area was packed with an awful lot of firefighters.”
There’s an investigation into the cause, but neighbours like Bobbie Bergs said there has been more garbage fires in her neighbourhood and she worries it could be arson.
“It makes me feel unsafe,” she said.
“I don’t leave my house at night already in this area so to have someone maybe lighting fires it’s really concerning.”
Shelter for the 14 evacuees was provided on a Winnipeg Transit bus. The city said the fire was declared under control just before 4 a.m.