Main Street building complete loss following Friday night blaze, City of Winnipeg says

A building on one of Winnipeg's main roadways is considered a complete loss after it caught fire Friday night, the City of Winnipeg says.

Crews were working to put out the fire in a three-storey building on Main Street, near the Disraeli Freeway intersection, until 3:39 a.m. Saturday, according to the city.They responded to the fire shortly before 8 p.m. Friday.

First responders had blocked off parts of Main Street while they were putting put the fire.

As of Saturday morning, southbound Main Street between Alexander and Logan avenues was still closed, though northbound Main had reopened, the city said in a news release sent just before 9 a.m. Saturday.

Some crews were still on scene putting out hot spots at that point. No one was injured, the city says.

Keith ProulxrunsCree-Ations, a crafts store justa couple doors down from the gutted building.

"It's scary. Everything we have in our life is there [in the store]," he said. "It was tough, not knowing if everything we own is going to burn up."

Proulx said he doesn't think the loss will have much immediate impact on the area. Agrocery store that had operated in the building closed down late last year, andthe apartment units on the top floors have been vacant for more than a decade, he said.

But he added that as a business owner, the recent string of fires in the city's core is concerning.

"It's hard to get certain insurance down in the area because of, you know, how the area is," he said. "It's getting kind of scary to be a business owner down there."

The president of the firefighters' unionsaid members are feeling the strainof the "extremelyhigh"number of buildings going up in flames this year. Tom Bilous said it'shaving a ripple effect across the system.

"These crews are on scene for a long time, it spreads resources so thin, everything takes longer when it's full of ice," said Bilous, of the United Firefighters of Winnipeg. "It means more crews around Winnipeg have longer response times to everything from heart attacks to car accidents to other fires."

North Point Douglas house fire

Minutes after crews had the fire on Main Street under control, fire-paramedic crews were called to a home on the 100 block ofHallet Street in North Point Douglas for a house fire, the city said.

Crews foundheavy smoke and flames coming from the two-storey home when they arrived. The city's emergency social services group arrived to help residents find temporary accommodations, the city says.

The home suffered significant smoke, water and fire damage. That fire isbeing investigated.