Flames at a homeless encampment created a large plume of black smoke in the city sky on Monday, highlighting one of three sites that have sparked complaints of repeated fires.

Winnipeg Fire paramedic crews were dispatched to a fire in the 400 block of Assiniboine Avenue around 6:20 p.m. Monday and had it under control by 6:41 p.m.

“Crews encountered heavy smoke when they arrived on scene,” a WFPS statement said.

The fire did not spread to neighboring buildings and no injuries were reported. The cause is unknown, WFPS said.

Several residents recently told the Free press the Assiniboine, Waterfront Drive and Balmoral Street encampments suffer from frequent fires that destroy trees and endanger neighboring properties. Some have called on the city to issue an evacuation order, which would force camp residents to leave the site, for safety reasons.

A WFPS official said no such orders have been issued in 2024 and the department is working to avoid them.

“Evacuation orders can be disruptive and traumatic for people living in encampments. So we try to use them as a last resort,” said Lisa Gilmour, deputy chief of community risk reduction.

Gilmour said fire prevention officers assess encampments “almost daily” and provide residents with tips on how to stay warm safely and avoid other dangers.

“We try to work with the people living in the encampment and the (outreach) service providers who regularly frequent the encampment to try to address the fire safety concerns that we see at the site before we move to the encampment. cancel the order,” she said.

The city policy notes that a “persistent pattern of behavior that constitutes a risk to life and safety” could lead WFPS to order camp residents to leave.

WFPS responded to two additional small camp fires Tuesday morning on Waterfront Drive, which were also quickly extinguished with no injuries, the service said.

Gilmour said she did not have data to determine whether camp fires were now happening daily.

Advice. Cindy Gilroy said WFPS does a good job with encampment residents, but the city should also push for more temporary housing.

She suggested adding units that offer a bed, some privacy and storage space to the current housing system.

“This becomes a temporary home, while we solve the problems that the homeless face,” Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) said.

She hopes this will help create safe indoor spaces that make it easier for people to leave encampments.

“We’re not allowing them to keep people warm in the winter…We have to move people indoors to make sure they have a safe environment,” Gilroy said.

WFPS will also roll out a new dispatch system early next year.

The service says 911 calls will be triaged in a system with five priority levels instead of the current two.

Calls that were answered immediately in the past may no longer receive the same priority.

Only Priority 1 calls will receive a “lights and sirens” response, while some low-acuity calls may be diverted to hospitals without ambulances.

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Joyanne Pursaga
Journalist

Joyanne is a municipal reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A journalist since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing about City Hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sunshine before joining the Free press early 2020. Learn more about Joyanne.

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