'It's another tragedy': Vigil held for victim of fatal Euclid rooming house fire

Community members lit candles and said prayers at a vigil held Sunday evening for the man who died in a fatal Point Douglas rooming house fire Friday night.

The fire broke out in the third floor of the house at 145 Euclid Ave. after 11 p.m. Friday. Firefighters found the building engulfed in flames and a 40-year-old man dead inside.

Three other people were injured escaping from the house.

"A life was lost and we're here to honour that life," said Bianca Ramos, who works in the community and spoke during the vigil. "It bothers me that for some people inadequate housing is what their options are — it's that or no housing. 

Vigil for rooming house fire victim

7 years ago

Duration 1:08

Winnipeggers held a candle-light vigil for a man who died in a Point Douglas rooming house fire.

"A home is a big part of you, where your roots are, where you put your head at night."

Afterwards Ramos, who works at the North Point Douglas Women's Centre, told CBC News she's worried for the survivors of the blaze who may not have anywhere to stay now.

"Do they have homes to go to? Where are they laying their heads tonight?"

Policy changes

Point Douglas MLA Bernadette Smith attended the vigil and said more needs to be done to make sure people in the community have access to safe and affordable housing.

"It's another tragedy, so this is really a call to our government, to our city, to ensure anyone who wants a safe and affordable home can have a safe and affordable homes and there's policies in place so that these tragedies don't continue to happen," she said after the vigil. "There's a lot of people that lived in this rooming house who are homeless right now.… We need to make sure we have supports in place for those families as well.

"We need to move forward to ensure that this doesn't happen again."

Matt Thordarson lives near the rooming house and watched as people tried to jump from windows to escape the flames Friday night. He spoke at the vigil about the importance of the community coming together to heal. 

He said the size of the crowd at the vigil — roughly 50 people — was a good start.

"It shows that the community cares and the community will always be there together," he said.

As a board member with the Point Douglas Residents' Committee, Thordarson said he had been inside the rooming house within the last couple months to speak to the landlord after a recent stabbing in the building.

"We have been in talks with the landlord about issues that we had with the place," he said. "He promised to step up safety issues in the building, which he has, to his credit." 

On Sunday, police spokesperson Const. Rob Carver said the fire is being investigated as a possible arson. However, police are not actively searching for any suspects at this point in the investigation.

'Worst rooming house in Point Douglas'

Izzatbir Sethi has owned the building for about five years through his company Hartan Corp., and says there were about 14 or 15 people living there.

He says some of the affected residents are staying in other properties that he owns, including a hotel, while others are staying with friends. There are a few he hasn't spoken to personally, he said, but he's been told they're safe.

Sethi says he's spent the last six months trying to make the rooming house safer.

He said the fire department inspected the house annually, and after a previous fire inside the house, Sethi says safety features in the house were upgraded.

"We had a fire alarm, which was current. After the last fire when the house was fixed, it was made to today's code, so it had fire-rated drywall," he said. "The fire escape worked, so people could get [to the] back escape ledge and jump off. So the systems were working, it's not that the systems weren't working."

Point Douglas Residents' Committee chair Sel Burrows called the house "the worst rooming house in Point Douglas," with frequent complaints about drinking, drugs and fights. He said the committee had tried to work with Sethi to make improvements. 

Sethi says when he last met with the residents' committee, they were primarily concerned with garbage and with some tenants disturbing children on the street. There had also been a number of recent break-in attempts.

This prompted Sethi to install steel doors on the outside and security cameras, and he used his truck to haul away trash.

The building also had two caretakers who were responsible for keeping it clean and ensuring the tenants followed the rules, Sethi said. Whenever he heard about a problem tenant, he evicted them, he said.

Sethi has turned over the security surveillance footage to police to help with the investigation, he said.

He's been told there was no structural damage to the building, but Sethi said he doesn't yet know what repairs will be needed before tenants return.

"It's too early to say. I haven't been inside the building," he said. "It's just sad, it's a loss for everyone."