Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 8, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba WEDNESDAY JANUARY 8, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SECTION B CONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE ▼ CITY ● BUSINESS JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS People watch as firefighters battle a blaze at the Holy Ascension Greek Orthodox Church, which also burned in June and was damaged by fires at a neighbouring property in recent years. A FLAME-RAVAGED church suffered a final blow Monday night, becoming the latest victim in a scourge of fires repeatedly striking Win- nipeg’s vacant properties and running emergency crews ragged. Holy Ascension Greek Orthodox Church — now re- duced to a roofless, burned-out heap — is a symbol of the growing issue, which reached record highs last year and shows no signs of slowing. “It’s quite frustrating because it’s a significant use of resources when we have to return to these and they pose an ongoing risk,” Winnipeg Fire Para- medic Service deputy chief Scott Wilkinson said. “It’s been an escalating issue for quite a number of years. In 2024, we don’t have final year numbers, but it anecdotally appears we’ve surpassed all previous years with the number of vacant building fires, un- fortunately.” Firefighters arrived at the church near Main Street and Euclid Avenue at about 6:15 p.m. to find the building engulfed in smoke and flames. They were able to fight the fire only from the outside be- cause the building was not safe to enter, the WFPS said. The temperature was -20 C as firefighters battled the blaze throughout the evening before it was de- clared under control at about 1 a.m. The building, which also burned in June and was damaged by fires at a neighbouring property in 2023 and 2021, is a complete loss, the WFPS said. “I’m kind of desensitized to it at this point. It’s sad, but I have to be,” church secretary Stephanie Sar- lakis said, speaking outside the ruined structure. Sarlakis, who visited the building Tuesday to take photos and assess the damage, said the church has been plagued by repeated break-ins, thefts and fires that drove the congregation away. It has officially sat vacant since September but was largely unused dating back to the summer, when the last fire caused extensive damage to the basement and banquet area. Holy Ascension did not have insur- ance on the building, constructed in 1938, which had been denied coverage because of damage to its roof, boiler and other infrastructure, she said. The parish’s congregation of approximately two dozen people had resorted to hosting services in their own homes. The property was listed for sale and a potential buyer had been interested, Sarlakis said. Monday’s blaze struck on the eve of Orthodox Christmas, ex- acerbating the pain of former parishioners who scoured social media for updates as the house of wor- ship burned, she added. “We’ll regroup after the holi- days and come together as a board and figure it out.” Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie said securing insur- ance is challenging for many properties in the ward, which encompasses parts of the North End and Point Douglas. “It’s a huge cost. Huge. Small businesses, residents, everybody is suffering here because of the social ills out there on the streets,” Eadie said. “You’ve got these people, whether they are stealing to feed their drug habit, or whatever they are doing, they are the ones who are doing this … we have to provide more opportunity for people not to get into that racket.” Evidence of squatters littered the building in the months before Monday’s fire, with the interior pil- laged of metal piping and wires. Discarded condoms and drug paraphernalia have also been found, Sar- lakis said. Garry Saniuk, the caretaker for an adjacent apart- ment complex, agreed the former church is fre- quently targeted by people living on the streets. The 72-year-old man spent the night curled up inside a sleeping bag in his apartment, which was left without heat and electricity for up to seven hours. The power was restored around 3 a.m., with the temperature dipping below 18 C in his suite, he said. “It’s a concern,” Saniuk said of vacant buildings and fires in his neighbourhood. “One of the pun- ishments (authorities) should give these people who light these fires is to send them to the burn unit in a hospital for a day and let them see what kind of dev- astation people suffer.” The cause of Monday’s fire remains under inves- tigation, but Wilkinson said it was likely man-made. “When we have buildings that are vacant and secured with no utilities connected to them, there aren’t too many other options,” he said. The fire in June was being investigated as arson, police said at the time. United Fire Fighters of Win- nipeg Local 867 president Nick Kasper said city fire- fighters face some of the highest call volumes and lowest temperatures in the country. Vacant buildings are dangerous because they are difficult to access and ventilate. Such properties can present unknown structural hazards, and are typically more involved in fires by the time they are reported, he said. “That takes a pretty significant toll on our people. Firefighting is a hazardous profession at the best of times and these risks are compounded exponential- ly,” Kasper said. “When you fight this many fires this frequently, it’s almost a matter of time (before somebody gets hurt).” Union data suggests firefighters faced an average of 20 vacant property fires per month last year. In the first six days of 2025, crews saw eight significant fires including several in vacant buildings, he said. The union leader called for more fire resources, saying staff and equipment are stretched dangerous- ly thin. He also said the number of vacant properties must be reduced as soon as possible. Kasper credited his fellow firefighters for their bravery and dedication in the face of challenging circumstances. Last month, the city began work on a pilot project to inspect unsafe conditions at prop- erties sooner, in the hopes vacant buildings are dealt with before they are set ablaze. City officials were monitoring 684 properties under Winnipeg’s vacant buildings bylaw, includ- ing 526 residential and 158 commercial spots, at the time. The WFPS urged anybody who sees someone entering a vacant building to immediately contact emergency services. tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca Point Douglas parish a total loss; ‘I’m… desensitized’: church secretary Vacant church fire latest in growing crisis TYLER SEARLE Councillor forced to take action to view city housing report A CITY councillor says he’s been forced to file a freedom of information request for a report on federal housing funding he said is being unfairly withheld from council. Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) said while a report prepared by City of Win- nipeg staff summarizing the first year of the federal Housing Accelerator Fund was submitted to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in December, he has not been able to access it despite repeated requests. A city hall vote on the program is scheduled for Jan. 30. Mayes said it was the first time he’s had to file a freedom of information re- quest in his 13-year career and criticized an “obsessive” secrecy around the hous- ing fund, which is set to provide the city $30.6-million in payments from 2023-26 with a goal of creating more than 3,000 new housing units in Winnipeg. “It’s frustration. I’m voting on this, I should see it,” he said Tuesday. “Why the hell do federal bureaucrats have this information and I don’t? I find that baffling.” “I’m not claiming there’s corruption, I’m not claiming there’s any inefficiency, but … give me the facts before I vote.” Council has highlighted eight initia- tives, including changes to zoning rules and a capital grant program, set to be funded from future accelerator fund payments. One initiative, a $12-million incentive plan for infrastructure and service upgrades to new housing de- veloped from the federal fund, is sched- uled to be discussed at Jan. 30’s council meeting. A spokesperson for the city pointed to a recent update provided at a Decem- ber council meeting that outlined the first year of the program and said fur- ther information was coming. “Per our agreement with CMHC, the city needed to submit an update on each of our eight initiatives in order to receive the scheduled program funds,” city spokesman Kalen Qually said in an email. “The information submitted by the city is being reviewed by CMHC and then a public report from both the city and CMHC will be released to the pub- lic at a later date.” Mayes said city staff have told him the federal body will decide when the report should be made public. He suggested the city is treading lightly amid the Housing Accelerator Fund’s uncertain future: federal Con- servative leader Pierre Poilievre has said he would end the program if elect- ed prime minister later this year. MALAK ABAS MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS The remains of the vacant Holy Ascension Greek Orthodox Church, which has been vacant since at least September. ‘Bizarre and unnerving to the highest degree’ DEAN PRITCHARD AS day turned to night, April 26, 2023, Tyrus Mann spent hours pushing a laun- dry bin around at Main Street and Disraeli Freeway, stopping to chat with friends, chow down on a slice of pizza from an out- reach worker and visit a homeless shelter. No one who encountered Mann, includ- ing two beat cops who walked past him on the street, knew that amongst the debris piled in the laundry cart was the body of 45-year-old Ryan Cory Monias, who Mann had beaten to death or unconsciousness hours earlier. “Whether he was dead at that instant, we don’t know,” Crown attorney Boyd McGill told King’s Bench Justice Rick Saull at a sentencing hearing Tuesday, describing the killing as “bizarre and unnerving to the highest degree.” Mann, who later that night set Monias’s body ablaze in a Point Douglas parking lot, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Court heard Mann lives with a “verit- able alphabet of disorders,” including schizophrenia and alcohol-related neuro- logical disorder, and is “extremely low functioning” with an IQ of 50. McGill and defence lawyer Amanda Sansregret jointly recommended the 12- year sentence, which McGill said “takes into account (Mann’s) limitations.” According to an agreed statement of facts previously provided to court, Mann and Monias were at the Manwin Hotel on Main Street when Mann, believing Monias was a “skinner” (street slang for a sex offender), assaulted and “incapacitated” Monias. Mann strapped Monias’s body inside a sleeping bag, then placed it in a laundry bin, covered it with scavenged debris and wheeled the bin to the area of Our Rela- tives Place homeless shelter on Disraeli Freeway around 7:30 p.m. Mann “herded (Monias’s body) around for hours, like luggage,” until shortly af- ter midnight when he wheeled the bin to a warehouse parking lot on Gomez Street, where he set it on fire, McGill said. Security video played in court showed Mann leaving the parking lot as the laun- dry bin was engulfed in a roaring ball of flame. Teenagers driving by a short time later “couldn’t quite believe their eyes” and called 911, McGill said. An autopsy could not determine how Monias died and described him as being “cooked to the bone.” The autopsy showed no evidence of smoke in Monias’s lungs, suggesting he was already dead when Mann set fire to his body. Police arrested Mann days later in an un- related stabbing the same day Monias was killed and recovered a knife later found to have blood on it matching Monias’s DNA. Mann, who was not yet a suspect in Monias’s killing, was released on an undertaking and then rearrested May 2 for an unrelated offence. A day later, po- lice connected Mann to Monias’s death and arrested him for committing an indignity on human remains. Mann “voluntarily” confessed and told police he became angry with Monias, thinking he was a sex offender, and “snapped” his neck before “fold(ing) him like a pretzel” and placing the body in a sleeping bag, said the agreed statement of facts. Mann received credit for time served, reducing his remaining sentence to ap- proximately 10 ½ years. dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca Mentally challenged killer handed 12-year jail sentence ● HOUSING, CONTINUED ON B2 ;