It took more than 12 hours but a massive blaze in East Kildonan is finally out — but it’s left many Winnipeggers out in the cold.
The fire broke out Monday around 3:30 p.m. and quickly ripped through the four-storey building site at Kimberly Avenue and London Street.
“I had a neighbour come and he was pounding on my door,” Trish Taylor said. “I heard the word ‘fire.’ So I opened my door, looked out and there were flames shooting high into the sky over all the buildings.”
Taylor said the smoke and flames were heading in the direction of her building and firefighters were warning people to get out.
“I knew there was a sense of urgency,” she said. “We were all just kind of like stunned and shocked.”
Outside, residents from the two complexes already in flames stood by watching as crews tried to save their homes.
“It was honestly terrifying … like something out of a movie,” Taylor said. “Everybody was just kind of standing around looking up because the flames were just so high and, you know, just a sense of fear and that we could lose everything.”
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There were no reports of any injuries but there was significant damage.
“There will certainly be some cars damaged. We did lose the car garage … and cars in the parking lot will have sustained some damage,” Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service assistant chief Scott Wilkinson said Monday night.
The City of Winnipeg said WFPS crews conducted a safety assessment of the two damaged condominium buildings Tuesday morning.
“It was determined that all suites in 765 Kimberly Avenue and most suites in 775 Kimberly Avenue are structurally safe and residents will be able to access their suites to retrieve essential belongings,” a city spokesperson said.
“There are a handful of suites in 775 Kimberly which sustained significant damage and will residents will not be able to enter those suites to retrieve possessions.”
The city said residents of neither building will not be able to reoccupy their units until electricity/utilities have been reconnected and required cleanup, restoration and repairs have been completed.
While the city has its emergency social services team on site to help impacted residents find temporary accommodations, it said only one was in need of help overnight.