Vacant, derelict homes keep burning in Winnipeg, and councillor worries someone will get hurt
Leaving 'sitting matchbox' standing puts others at risk, firefighters union says
Tucked away smack in the middle of an otherwise well-kept block of Arlington Street lies a huge eyesore and fire hazard.
A two-storey home at 462 Arlington St. is covered in white boards with some of its roof missing from fires, including a blaze earlier this year that injured a firefighter.
"There's always the risk that the structure's not safe or could collapse, so we have to take a very, very cautious approach with our staff," said Scott Wilkinson, assistant chief with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service outside the house.
"If there's squatters, they're putting themselves at risk by trying to stay warm inside and have a fire."
The home, which has burned multiple times since 2020, is one of 655 vacant buildings the City of Winnipeg is watching.
The house is listed as being owned by Arion Venture Corp., according to a tax assessment notice document. The company's president didn't respond to a request for comment from CBC News.
The city charges owners of buildings like the one at 462 Arlington St. inspection and boarding permit fees.
If a building has been empty for more than five years, the city can charge one per cent of the property's assessed value. It can eventually take ownership if the owner's been convicted under the derelict building bylaw. But that hasn't happened since 2016, a city spokesperson said.
So far this year, the city has issued about $900,000 in fees under the city's vacant building bylaw, and it's fined owners another $120,000.
Fines don't work: Gilroy
But Daniel McIntyre Coun. Cindy Gilroy said the fines aren't working.
Standing outside a burned home in the 500 block of Furby Avenue that also caught fire, she said it's time the city starts to crack down.
"This house is really a blight on the neighbourhood. It's abandoned, it's boarded up partially, and of course you see that there's a fire so it's been sitting here for a very long time."
Gilroy wants the fines the city gives to building owners to go on property tax bills because right now some are "getting off the hook." She said many fines are getting sent to collections agencies and the city never gets the cash.
"We need to make sure they're paying those fees because it comes out of the city's pocket when we have a bylaw officer, a firefighter or police come to this building."
She's also looking to Edmonton for possible solutions, and said she's interested in matching that city's program that requires security officers after a first offence on site of a vacant building.
Gilroy worries as the weather turns frigid, people without a home who turn to boarded up buildings for shelter could be in danger.
"Their life safety is at risk as well as the neighbouring house so we don't want to allow fires. They go in there, they start fires to stay warm but the aftermath could be a fire that's devastating and loss of life."
'A sitting matchbox'
The city said from from April 5 to Oct. 31, firefighters responded to 62 fires in vacant buildings.
The president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg union Tom Bilous called on the city to cut red tape and demolish buildings that are unsalvageable quicker — something Gilroy is trying to do through one of her motions at city hall.
"Just get rid of these places that are a sitting matchbox and put some infill housing to replace it and let's move on," Bilous said.
Standing on Manitoba Avenue, outside what's left of a burned home owned by the city, Bilous said the current system is putting people at risk.
He pointed to damage along a neighbouring home, expressing his frustration.
"I feel bad for the taxpayers on either side of this place that sat there wondering not if, but when, it was going to burn and then it happened."
The city's manager of community bylaw enforcement services said the system is working as best it can under the current legislation.
Winston Yee said the vast majority of owners are moving into compliance and his team is looking at ways to address owners who are not.
"Our goal and our job is to bring it into compliance and we don't stop until it comes into compliance."
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