Evacuee, area resident voice safety concerns after East Kildonan inferno displaces condo dwellers

Remains of the Kimberly Avenue condo under construction that burned to the ground Monday and the two neighbouring condos that suffered extensive damage in the fire. ( Source: Josh Crabb/CTV News)

WINNIPEG — Forced to flee her East Kildonan condo in the face of a ferocious inferno at a neighbouring construction site, a Winnipeg woman is calling for safety improvements to prevent a similar fire from happening again.

“I would like that builder that’s building beside us to put up a concrete wall so this doesn’t happen again,” said Karen Mann, whose second-floor suite was among dozens evacuated in a frenzy Monday afternoon when the fire broke out. “It’s not fair. There’s a lot of older people in this place and they had a hard time getting out.”

At least three nearby condo buildings were evacuated when an unfinished four-storey condo complex at the corner of Kimberly Avenue and London Street went up in flames.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) said Wednesday the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Officials have previously said the condo under construction and a neighbouring parking garage were destroyed while two neighbouring condo buildings suffered extensive fire, water and smoke damage.

Mann and her husband have lived in the neighbouring condos, East Kildonan Estates which is made up of two buildings and 54 suites, for more than a decade. She said they were home when the fire broke out.

“It was devastating when my husband ran up to the suite and said, ‘Get your coat on, there’s a fire.’ It was like panic city,” Mann said.

In a move she now says probably wasn’t the safest, Mann ran to rescue her brand new vehicle from the parking garage and made it out before the building was destroyed by the fire along with the remaining vehicles parked inside.

Pretium Projects, the builder of the condo under construction, has so far declined to comment on the fire citing the ongoing investigation.

Verne Reimer Architecture, the architect of the project, said in a statement to CTV News Winnipeg, project insurance adjusters will be taking over the site but the firm declined to comment any further until the WFPS report on the incident is complete.

“This was a tragic and devastating event for the project participants, as well as the neighbourhood,” said Verne Reimer, the firm’s principal architect. “We are very happy that everyone is safe and that there were no injuries due to the fire.”

Some area residents, including Carolyn Solomon, opposed the condo project at city hall before construction started. While Solomon said Wednesday it was more over the loss of green space, she also said concerns over fire safety were a factor.

“He (referring to the condo under construction) was too close to the condos,” Solomon said. “Not a nice thing to happen.”

Solomon said she has lived across the street from the site for 45 years. The heat was so intense it damaged the siding on her home.

“The fire, the fumes—it was terrible,” she said. “Our nerves are frayed, needless to say.”

Jason Schreyer, city councillor for Elmwood-East Kildonan, said the project was initially rejected because it was too big but he said when developers came back with a revamped plan the city and councillors approved the development.

“The second development which is notably smaller, there was very little, surprisingly little opposition to the next one and that’s the one we approved,” Schreyer said.

As for any improvements that could be made to prevent something similar from happening, Schreyer said he too is awaiting for the investigation to be completed before making any conclusions.

Mann said it appears her suite wasn’t badly damaged but she’s been unable to get back inside to get any of her belongings.

“It’s hard when you don’t have a place to live,” Mann said. “Thank God I have really good friends in East St. Paul.”

That’s where Mann and her husband are temporarily staying until they can return to their condo. But like many others displaced by the fire, they’re not exactly sure when that day will come.