Vacant apartment block to be demolished after West End fire

A Sherbrook Street apartment building is expected to be demolished after a Monday night fire, fire officials say.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) was called to the vacant three-storey building just before 11:45 p.m., where they found heavy smoke coming from inside.

As conditions made it unsafe for firefighters to fight the blaze from inside, crews are expected to be on-scene for most of Tuesday trying to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading to a neighbouring house.

The building is at risk of collapse and crews will begin demolishing the building at an undetermined time.

Sherbrook Street will remain closed between Sargent Avenue and Cumberland Avenue until demolition is complete.

Several residences in the area were evacuated due to flooding and water backup. The city is assisting displaced residents in finding temporary accomodations.

The extreme cold conditions make it even more challenging, the WFPS said, and extra firefighters are on scene so they can be rotated in and out due to the cold.

No one was hurt in the fire, and the cause is still under investigation. The WFPS said the building had also been damaged in a previous fire.

Manitoba Hydro said Tuesday morning that the fire has affected power lines, resulting in an outage for almost 200 customers.

Local traffic is also being impacted and the city is asking residents to avoid the area of Sherbrook Street between Sargent Avenue and Cumberland Avenue, as well as Cumberland from Maryland Street to Sherbrook.

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