Winnipeg fire officials said two people have died and two others escaped a house fire on Selkirk Avenue on Friday.
WATCH: Two people died and two others were taken to hospital mid-day Friday after a fire in a multi-family house on Selkirk Avenue
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Crews responded to a report of a fire in a multi-family home in the 700 block of Selkirk Avenue at 11:16 a.m. and arrived to find the structure ablaze with “heavy flames coming from the windows,” said Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service in a written statement.
Two people in the home had managed to get out of the house before crews arrived. They were taken to hospital in unstable condition.
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Deputy Fire Chief Russ Drohomereski said crews were unable to get into the building until after the fire was out. Firefighters discovered the bodies of two other people inside the house.
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“They mounted an offensive attack but ended up needing to be backed out and they went into a defensive attack,” he said.
The cause of the blaze was not known, but officials were looking into whether or not the home had smoke alarms.
“At this time, I can’t speak to there being working smoke alarms in this structure. We’re not able to determine that at this time, but it’s very important that the public understands it’s paramount to their safety to have working smoke alarms in their houses,” Drohomereski said.
The house was expected to be a total loss.
Witnesses at the scene said they saw several people running from the house when the fire first broke out.
“The flames were pretty intense; they were coming out pretty bad,” said Kelly Willman.
“It was pretty scary … There was a bunch of people running out and freaking out.”
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Several fire trucks were involved in fighting the fire, and traffic was blocked over the lunch hour.
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