Fire that destroyed downtown hotel in The Pas suspicious: RCMP

A raging fire that consumed a three-storey hotel in the northern Manitoba town of The Pas on Friday morning is under investigation by police as suspicious.

The Town Centre Hotel went up in flames early in the morning, with flames reaching far above the rooftop.

"The cause of the fire does appear suspicious in nature," The Pas RCMP said in a press release on Friday afternoon.

Leslie Robertson, who has owned the 105-year-old building for 21 years, said he's stunned and still trying to get his head around the disaster, but he's grateful no one was injured.

"I'm trying to look back at everything we've accomplished in the last 20-plus years. There's nothing left of it," he said, estimating he spent $500,000 in renovations over the two decades. 

"We put a lot of blood, sweat and tears in there over the years."

There were 18 rooms and 16 were occupied by long-term residents, he said, including one man who was there for 24 years, pre-dating Robertson's ownership.

"They don't know where they're going to sleep tonight," he said.

Many of them live on extremely low incomes and now have nowhere to go, he said. All they have is what they escaped with and "some of them don't even have money for a lunch."

Robertson has called the Red Cross to ask for help for his tenants but he has yet to hear back from the agency.

2 fires within hours

Ironically, an earlier response to flames likely saved everyone, he said.

"Guys were banging on the door, telling them [staff] the back of the hotel was on fire," Robertson said.

Fire alarms went off and the building was evacuated. The fire department came, extinguished the blaze and checked for hot spots before declaring it safe to go back in.

Robertson, who rushed to the hotel for that fire, then went back home, but within half an hour, he heard sirens again.

"I thought, 'Oh, don't tell me,'" he said. "I guess it wasn't out. There was a hot spot somewhere that they missed."

His phone rang almost immediately and the person on the other end of the line said the hotel was ablaze "and this time it looks bad," Robertson said.

"By the time I got back, yeah, it was bad. The fire was going through the roof."

Town Centre Hotel goes up in flames. Video courtesy: Trent Allen, Opasquia Times editor

7 years ago

Duration 0:55

A raging fire consumed a three-storey hotel in the northern Manitoba town of The Pas on Friday morning. The Town Centre Hotel went up in flames early in the morning with flames reaching far above the rooftop.

In addition to the structure, Robertson lost three days' worth of money that was set to go to the bank and an ATM machine that was stocked with cash.

"It's all burnt up," he said.

Two cats died but everyone got out in time because they were still awake from the first evacuation, Robertson said.

As of noon, there were still firefighters at the scene, making sure that what was left of the building didn't reignite.

Robertson, who also has another business — Northern Lites Bait — said he still has a source of income, but he feels terrible for the 11 hotel employees who now have no jobs.

It's unlikely he'll rebuild the hotel, he said.

"I'm 64 now so I'm getting a little too old to start over again. I can't see it being rebuilt," he said. "I'll stick to chasing minnows, I guess."