City officials and the Winnipeg firefighters’ union are concerned that the problem of record-setting numbers of vacant building fires has continued into 2025.
“We’re not even two weeks into 2025 and averaging two structure fires a day here in Winnipeg,” Nick Kasper, president of United Firefighters of Winnipeg told Global News on Saturday.
“Just in the last 36 hours, we’ve had three vacant buildings go up in flames.”
At one of those fires, a firefighter was injured after falling through a floor.
“We can’t be certain when the crews arrive on scene that the structure is unoccupied, so our crews make entry more often than not,” Kasper said, adding that every entry into a burning building has obvious safety risks.
On top of that, crews deal with frustration and exhaustion, often battling repeated blazes at the same abandoned buildings.
“It has its impact on physical and mental health,” Kasper says. “It takes a toll on our people.”
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The toll is also felt by taxpayers.
“The cost is a little hard to calculate but what is an issue is the fact that when we have multiple crews committed to one of these fires, we have gaps in our response and it takes us longer to get to the next incident, unfortunately,” said Deputy Fire Chief Scott Wilkinson.
Unfortunately, there is no simple solution.
“The issue is very complex. It’s everything from housing to mental health to substance abuse to vulnerable persons and the economy,” Wilkinson said. “It’s a multifaceted issue that’s not going to get solved, unfortunately, by one department or one group.”
While the City has tried to recoup more than $1 million in firefighting costs from derelict property owners, less than $80,000 has been paid.
“What we found, unfortunately, is that has almost disincentivized because there’s people who want to develop their property who now have a $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 bill and that makes it even more difficult for them to develop the property,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.
With some 700 vacant buildings in Winnipeg, the mayor said he sees an opportunity.
“We want to turn the vacant properties into places where people can live,” Gillingham says. “These properties represent the potential for housing at a time when we need housing in the city of Winnipeg.”
However, it’s not something city departments can do alone, he added. Gillingham said gathering non-profit organizations and private citizens to come up with a plan is a 2025 priority.
Winnipeg set a record in 2023 with more than 150 vacant building fires and broke it again finishing 2024 with close to 200.
The firefighters union estimates fires set accidentally or intentionally in abandoned buildings have increased 20-fold in a decade.
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