Neighbours lament loss of Wellington Crescent mansion in blaze

CTV Winnipeg: Loss of Wellington mansion Jeff Keele on the blaze consuming a house on Wellington Crescent on Sunday in Winnipeg.

A fire destroyed an iconic mansion on Wellington Crescent in Winnipeg Sunday. The once magnificent home was reduced to rubble in a matter of hours.

Fire officials said the mansion at 1021 Wellington is a complete loss and damage is estimated at $3 million.

Neighbours lamented the loss of the home.

"I'm really sorry that the house burnt down," said Archie Cham, who lives next door. "It's like a Winnipeg landmark...everybody would go by this house and say it looks like a castle and it really did look like a castle."

A passerby saw smoke coming from the house and called 911 at 6:14 a.m. Sunday. Fire officials believe the fire was burning for a long time before that.

Firefighters from 15 stations and 22 fire trucks battled the blaze for nearly seven hours. Smoke could be seen several kilometres away.

As the fire raged on, crews were forced to fall back and focus on protecting homes on either side of the mansion. Firefighters say the winter conditions contributed to making this a difficult fire to fight.

"It's very difficult this time of the year when you're dealing with water and freezing conditions," said Frank Leswick, Winnipeg fire department battalion chief. "In the winter time you need lots of firefighters to get the job done properly."

According to Winnipeg police, the family that lives in the home was in Edmonton at the time of the fire. Reached by phone Sunday evening, homeowner Karl Dornetshuber said his family is devastated. He said the two suitcases they had on their trip now contain all their worldly possessions.

"A very thorough investigation will take place," said Const. Jason Michalyshen. "Our goal, to work collaboratively with fire crews to determine a cause."

"Such a vast amount of damage, the house has caved in. It will take quite a while, probably, to determine what the cause was," said Leswick.

Firefighters worked into the evening Sunday to prevent hot spots from flaring up.

According to City of Winnipeg records, the house was originally built in 1933.