Rooming-house tragedies drive up number of Winnipeg fire deaths
Seven fire deaths in 2016 to date; only one person died in Winnipeg fires throughout 2015
Seven people have died in Winnipeg fires so far this year, up six from a single death in 2015.
Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Chief John Lane called the reason behind the increase "the million-dollar question," though five out of seven deaths this year took place at rooming houses.
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Speaking at city hall, Lane said his department has "very good" response times in Winnipeg's inner city, where most of the deaths happened.
"We can't get there any faster," Lane said after he presented the fire-paramedic service's $199-million budget to city council's protection, community services and parks committee.
Instead, the chief pointed to a lack of early detection as the problem. By the time the fire-paramedic service knows of the fire, it's too big to fight effectively, he said.
"It really becomes hopeless. People can't survive those conditions," Lane said.
To reduce fire fatalities next year, Lane said smoke alarms must be installed in more homes. He also wants people to plan and practice fire-escape routes and avoid fire-starting behaviours like leaving cooking unattended.
Fire crews to install more alarms
The fire-paramedic service started what it describes as a "safe home program" on Sept. 23, with the goal of installing a smoke alarm in every Winnipeg home. While the program is not highlighted in Winnipeg's 2017 budget, the funding is included.
The program calls for fire crews to find homes that don't have alarms and have corporate partners pay to install them. The fire-paramedic service has a means of identifying at-risk homes.
Seven fire deaths this year
Two women and a man died when a rooming house on Alexander Avenue in the Centennial neighbourhood went up in flames on Feb. 28. The fire was ruled as accidental.
On July 6, a middle-aged man was pronounced dead after fire crews pulled him from a house on Aberdeen Avenue in the North End. It was believed that fire started from something cooking in the kitchen.
One day later, two people died on Austin Street, in North Point Douglas, when their house caught fire due to arson.
Then on Nov. 17, an elderly man succumbed to injuries he sustained after his Charleswood home caught fire in the middle of the night.