Crews continue battling fire at Winnipeg building before it can be demolished

Winnipeg firefighters are still working on a massive fire that gutted a two-storey building at Portage Avenue and Langside Street on Wednesday.

Portage is still closed along that stretch, and assistant fire chief Scott Wilkinson told 680 CJOB he expects it will stay that way for a while yet, as crews remain at the scene.

“We have a number of crews still left on scene, still putting some water on that fire,” he said.

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“There are some areas that are due to collapse or are difficult to access, and they’re trying to get it completely extinguished so some construction and demolition work can take place.

“It’s a bit of a complicated issue with demolition — there’s a billboard on top of the building that needs to be removed, and this could take a bit of time yet.”

The building, a mixed-use complex with tenants including the West End BIZ, wasn’t occupied at the time of the fire.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

1:40 Langside Street building likely to be demolished after ongoing fire extinguished, official says