Winnipeg highrise evacuated after fire breaks out
A Manitoba Housing apartment building on Main Street was evacuated Saturday afternoon after a fire broke out on the fifth floor.
Fire crews were called the highrise apartment on the 800 block of Main Street at about 2 p.m. CT.
When firefighters went up to the fifth floor suite they encountered very heavy smoke, said Frank Leswick, platoon chief with the Winnipeg Fire Department.
He said extra fire crews had to be called.
"Because of it being a ten-storey building …we generated a second line, which means we double the amount of people coming in here, because of the amount of people in the building," said Leswick.
One man from the suite where the fire started was taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Main Street was closed while emergency crews dealt with the fire — it has now been reopened.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
This was the third fire that broke out in Winnipeg Saturday. Two early morning fires on Victor Street are also under investigation — fire officials said their cause is thought to be suspicious.
