Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 30, 2021, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B3 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM B 3NEWS I CITY D er ric k Si gm ar 20 4. 22 8. 82 75 When it’s Time . . . Everything you need to know to start your day Available between 7 and 10 a.m. on winnipegfreepress.com A 21-YEAR-OLD woman is accused of lighting a fire at a Point Doug-las warehouse Tuesday, which was fuelled by chemicals and so intense that lights and decals on fire trucks melted. Two firefighters were hurt as they fought the flames at Gateway Indus- tries at 2 Point Douglas Ave., south of the Louise Bridge, which was called in Tuesday morning. While officers controlled traffic on Higgins Avenue, a witness gave a description of the suspect and said she appeared to be headed over the bridge. Winnipeg Police Service Const. Dani McKinnon said the witness followed the suspect for a short period. Soon after, officers took the suspect into custody in Elmwood, across the bridge. Firefighters were called to the warehouse just before 11:30 a.m. as heavy smoke and flames poured out of the building. Crews were expected to remain at the scene throughout most of Wednesday to extinguish hot spots. Thirty-three emergency vehicles and around 100 firefighters had battled the blaze on Tuesday. About 10 nearby homes were evacu- ated, but no residents were injured. As of Wednesday morning, the residents were still out of their homes. Embers ignited a stationary rail car that was carrying railroad ties. One firefighter was taken to hospital in stable condition Tuesday afternoon and another was hurt overnight and treated at the scene. Derek Balcaen felt the massive blaze’s heat from hundreds of feet away. The firefighter, who’s also a spokes- man for the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, said the scene could be de- scribed as hellish. It sends chills down his spine to think it was sparked by ar- son, he said. “As dangerous as a regular fire is, when we know that arson is involved, that just takes it to the next level,” he said. “More often than not, there’s booby traps set in these (places). We don’t know what we’re going into.” First responders did an initial search inside the warehouse Tuesday, Balcaen said. When they determined the site was mostly vacant, they took up pos- itions outside: the roof had collapsed, and the situation was too dangerous for an indoor attack. “The radiant heat is something that’s nearly impossible to explain,” Bal- caen said. “We had some trucks that were dealing with melting decals and lights… so when you’ve got trees and homes that are so close by, that just complicates an already complicated and dicey situation.” That’s on top of the record-high tem- perature of 29 C in Winnipeg Tuesday, Balcaen said. Crews evacuated nearby residents early on, outside the zone of thick smoke. Balcaen didn’t know what was inside the warehouse to cause the black plumes. “It was certainly many chemicals,” he said. “There were many explosions going on during the day.” Asked what caused the plumes of black smoke which could be seen across the city, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Ser- vice asst. chief Jamie Vanderhorst said: “If there was any machinery or anything inside, I can’t confirm that... because firefighters remained on the outside.” No damage estimate is available, but the building is a total loss. The fire in- vestigations unit is still working to de- termine what exactly was lit ablaze. Vanderhorst said the building was scheduled for a bylaw inspection within the next three months, and that the fire alarm systems were active, but could not say whether any sprinklers were activated as crews have not been able to enter the warehouse. Sheldon Blank, manager of soap manufacturer Gateway Industries, said he was in an adjacent building when the 25,000-square-foot storage facility caught fire. “We only saw the fire when we saw the black smoke,” said Blank, who pur- chased the building in 1984. “That section of the building will be a total loss. Everything has come to a stop. We can’t do anything. There’s nothing here to salvage.” Kelsey Ann Thompson, 21, is charged with arson causing damage to prop- erty and two counts of mischief under $5,000. The mischief charges are related to other property damage in the area, in- cluding to at least one vehicle, McKin- non said. Thompson doesn’t have a criminal record, but is pending on charges of housebreak and enter in July 2020 and failing to attend court in July, court re- cords show. — with files from Dean Pritchard erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca Witness tip leads to arson arrest in Point Douglas blaze ERIK PINDERA AND GABRIELLE PICHÉ MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Firefighters work to extinguish hot spots from a warehouse fire in Point Douglas early Wednesday morning. LEGISLATION enacted late last year allowing remote witnessing for legal documents is now fully in effect, the province said Wednesday. Until spring 2020, most legal documents could only be executed in the physical presence of another person who was authorized to act as a witness. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, created challenges in safely witnessing and commissioning legal documents in person. Temporary orders under the Emergency Meas- ures Act addressed the short-term challenges, but over time it was apparent more permanent remote or virtual witnessing and commis- sioning options were needed, Justice Minister Cameron Friesen said in a news release. The province announced Wednesday new regulations that establish processes for remote or virtual witnessing are now in effect. Those temporary measures have since been adopted, regulated and made permanent. The new regulations establish processes for the use of video conferencing as an alternative to in-person attendance for issues such as making oaths, affirmations or statutory declarations, exe- cuting a will or a land titles instrument, signing a power of attorney or acknowledging a signature on a health-care directive. REMOTE WITNESSING FOR LEGAL DOCS APPROVED A woman found dead after a fire in a Young Street bungalow last week had been slain before the home was set ablaze, police say. The victim’s identity has not been determined and police are asking for the public’s help to solve the crime. “The responsibility (fell) to WFPS to put out that fire, they entered the structure and found this person. There’s certainly a number of suspi- cious circumstances that led police to take more escalated involvement,” Winnipeg Police Service Const. Jay Murray said Wednesday. “We’ve since determined it to be a homicide.” Firefighters were alerted to the fire at 510 Young St. around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 21. The blaze was under control in about 20 minutes. After it was deemed safe, they entered the home and found the body. Another person had escaped without injury. “I’m not sure exactly of (the es- capee’s) involvement. I know we’ve interviewed a number of people as part of this investigation,” Murray said. Homicide detectives have asked for anyone with information about the crime to contact police. Murray requested anyone, including busi- ness owners, who may have surveil- lance footage to contact the homi- cide unit. Asked whether the victim lived in the home, Murray said: “I think we’ll wait to see if and when that formal identification occurs. We certainly have an idea of who this person is. There’s certain challenges when it comes to that forensic identifica- tion.” Murray said police are working with a pathologist and other experts to identify the victim. Murray would not reveal where the fire started in the home, or how the victim was killed. He said inves- tigators are holding back that infor- mation. “Many transient individuals” stayed at the house, Murray said. “I think this house was well known to the people who lived on that block. They probably have an understand- ing of the transient nature of some individuals who stayed at that house,” Murray said. Last week, the planter box in front of the grey bungalow brimmed with yellow flowers. Orange handprints, a symbol of young residential school victims, were painted on the front windows. The two-car garage was spray- painted “Bloodz” in red: the mon- iker of street gang factions from the North End. The tag was crossed out in orange spray paint. A longtime resident of the area said she had seen police officers go to the home in the past. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @erik_pindera Woman found dead in house fire victim of foul play ERIK PINDERA AFTER a recent protest was widely condemned for blocking patients’ ac- cess to the Health Sciences Centre, a city councillor is pushing for “safe ac- cess zones” to prevent such acts. Coun. Sherri Rollins’ motion calls for the city to enact the zones around clin- ics, hospitals, other health-care build- ings and public schools to keep protest- ers at a 150-metre distance. “The narrow zone to protect health- care workers (and) patients, and en- sure necessary medical treatment gets done and that people aren’t intimidated or threatened, and that they get to their appointments, is paramount,” Rollins told the Free Press. “There are other appropriate places to protest, including in front of city hall and the (Manitoba) legislature.” A protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates that took place outside HSC on Sept. 1 triggered plenty of backlash after some patients and staff had dif- ficulty getting into the hospital. Some patients reported cancelling appoint- ments due to the chaos. Rollins said schools and places that provide abortions have also been sub- jected to anti-choice protests with “graphic imagery” in the past, raising a need for protection zones at those sites as well. She also wants for the city to impose fines on those who violate the new rule, should it be approved by council. “I believe in freedom of expression… but I also believe in protecting health- care workers, principals and educators and their students,” said Rollins. She said similar rules have been en- acted through legislation in other prov- inces, including B.C. and Ontario. “It’s been tested in court that the ac- tion is constitutional because it’s not a blanket restriction,” said Rollins. Mayor Brian Bowman said he will ask the city’s legal department for de- tails about the motion, but he strongly supports its intent. “I think what Winnipeggers saw a few weeks ago, where protesters were impeding the access to medical facilities (and) intimidating health- care workers, was deplorable. I think anything we can lawfully do to (en- sure) the lawful access of patients and health-care providers to hospitals is something I want to lend a hand to,” said Bowman. Arthur Schafer, a professor of ethics at the University of Manitoba, said it appears the city is balancing the right to freedom of expression with access to health care and education. “The right to freedom of expres- sion can clash with other fundamental rights. The right of health-care person- nel to access their workplace, the right of patients to get into a hospital or clin- ic, without being harassed or intimi- dated or blocked, is also a fundamental right,” said Schafer. While he believes the motion could be strengthened by specifically stating the general right to protest will also be protected, he said the policy appears reasonable. “It seems, on the face of it, reason- able because it allows protesters to connect their protests symbolically with the target they want to protest or the site where the activities to which they object are occurring. At the same time, it keeps them far enough away to prevent the intimidation or harassment or coercion of people who are engaged in legitimate activities and seeking le- gitimate services,” said Schafer. Council is expected to consider the motion next month. If approved, fine amounts would be set and added dur- ing the 2022 budget process. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter:@joyanne_pursaga City looks to curtail protests at hospitals, schools JOYANNE PURSAGA A house fire on Young Street has become a homicide investigation, police say. JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Protesters outside Health Sciences Centre on Sept. 1 impeded access for patients and staff. THE City of Winnipeg will receive advertising credits from newspapers to compensate for the end of a recycling agreement. On Wednesday, council unanimously approved a proposal to accept the ads, in lieu of a cash payment. City officials say a provincial decision to end a previous agreement in 2017 had left the city owed $912,064 for newsprint collection and processing. Between 2011 and 2017, the province provided stewardship fees to Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba on behalf of News Media Canada, which were used to reimburse municipalities for up to 80 per cent of the net cost of residential recycling programs for packaging and printed paper. Winnipeg Free Press publisher Bob Cox, who speaks on behalf of Manitoba newspapers, has said the new agreement is feasible for the companies involved. NEWSPAPERS, CITY SWAP DEBT FOR ADS B_03_Sep-30-21_FP_01.indd B3 2021-09-29 10:27 PM ;