Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 9, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba January 16-26 The Floral Event of the Year! Fleurs de Villes returns to The Leaf with a stunning tribute to the arts featuring creations by talented local florists. RESERVE TICKETS NOW AT ASSINIBOINEPARK.CA SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2025 WEATHER FLURRIES. HIGH -2 — LOW -15 COMMUNITY REVIEW VETS UNVEIL HUMAN-GRADE CT SCANNER Winnipegger’s bond with president helped raise roofs WHEN Winnipegger Paul Hiebert found himself sitting across from former U.S. president Jimmy Carter on a bus in Chicago more than 30 years ago, both on their way to a baseball game after a few hard days of work with Habitat for Humanity, he knew he had to ask. “I just hemmed and hawed and said, ‘Hey, would you ever consider coming to Winnipeg in Canada and building a house?’” Hiebert, now 74, told the Free Press this week. “And he said, ‘Well, if you take me fishing.’” Carter kept his word and made it to Winnipeg — twice. Hiebert, a designer and builder by trade and a Mennonite by faith, was one of the people who got him here, took him fishing and kept in touch for more than 30 years after. Carter, president from 1977 to 1981, died peacefully at his home in Plains, Ga., on Dec. 29. He was 100 years old. His state funeral is being held today in the Washington National Cathedral, before a final private service in Plains. He will be buried next to his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died in 2023, at their family’s peanut farm. Like many across the world, Hiebert has spent time mourning the loss. He was 36 years old when a friend signed him up for a Habitat “building blitz” and was quickly moved by found- er Millard Fuller’s dream of housing every person in need. He made several trips throughout the U.S., including that visit to Chicago, to help build homes. After their first time on a site together, Carter asked Hiebert to join his team in North Carolina in 1987. They built 14 houses together on that weeklong trip — Hiebert, in the photos he kept from the time, often sport- ing a hat or T-shirt emblazoned with Winnipeg logos — and he remembers Carter in many lights: a lover of folk music, a stern proponent of hard work, an “artsy-fartsy” fly fisher. “His expectations were high. He was a measure twice, cut once kind of guy. He didn’t like to waste time. He was very competitive, really,” Hiebert said with a laugh. “His house had to be ahead, so we had to work into the evening if re- quired, to make sure that our roof was shingled, that we visibly were leading the job site.” Hiebert helped found Manitoba’s chapter of the non-profit that same year, through meetings out of his fa- ther’s basement that began with seven volunteers, mostly Mennonites who were familiar with traditions around barn raising. That number quickly grew and two homes were built on Flora Avenue in 1988. Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, landed in Winnipeg in 1993, a year after Hiebert and a small group from Habitat Manitoba went to Washington as part of the Carter Work Project to repeat their invitation. MALAK ABAS Health minister promises necessary improvements to health system Urgent probe into ER death CHRIS KITCHING MANITOBA Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara has ordered a critical inci- dent investigation after a middle-aged man died in Health Sciences Centre’s emergency department waiting room Tuesday morning, eight hours after arriving by ambulance. Any necessary improvements will be made to prevent similar deaths, Asagwara vowed, while patient-safety advocates questioned whether lessons from past ER deaths, including that of Brian Sinclair, were learned. “I want to reassure Manitobans this is being treated with the highest level of urgency, highest level of seriousness and we’re working very hard and very quickly to make sure that we can learn and take the appropriate action moving forward,” Asagwara told reporters Wednesday. The minister asked that a prelimi- nary report and assessment be provid- ed to them within a couple of weeks. Dr. Shawn Young, chief operating officer of HSC, which is run by Shared Health, has said the man arrived by ambulance shortly after midnight Tuesday. The man was assessed, triaged as low acuity and directed to the wait- ing room with instructions to speak to staff if his condition changed or worsened. Staff noticed his condition had deteriorated shortly after 8 a.m. He was pronounced dead in a resuscitation room a short time later. Officials have shared little informa- tion about the man and no details about why he was taken to the ER. They have not said how often he was reassessed by staff. At least five dead, 1,000 buildings in flames, 70,000 evacuated in three major wildfires across L.A. ‘A dark cloud over all of Los Angeles’ L OS ANGELES — Massive wild- fires roaring through the Los Angeles area left neighbour- hoods in ruins Wednesday, killing at least five people and threatening landmarks made famous by Holly- wood as desperate residents escaped through flames, hurricane-force winds and towering columns of smoke. Three major blazes — dubbed the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires — that erupted just a day earlier blanketed the city with a danger- ous, thick cloud of smoke and ash and destroyed homes across the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena, home of the famed Rose Parade. One of the fires was the most destructive in the modern history of the city of L.A. With thousands of firefighters already attacking the flames, the Los Angeles Fire Department put out a plea for off-duty and out-of- state firefighters to help. The strong winds had temporarily stopped aircraft from dumping water from above until they were able to resume flights. More than 1,000 structures were destroyed and numerous people were hurt in the fires, including first responders, said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone. Images of the devastation showed luxurious homes that collapsed in a whirlwind of flaming embers. Amid the debris was a toppled statue and a blackened motorcycle, its tires melted away. “This morning, we woke up to a dark cloud over all of Los Angeles. But it is darkest for those who are most intimately impacted by these fires. It has been an immensely pain- ful 24 hours,” L.A. County Supervi- sor Lindsey Horvath said. At least 70,000 people were ordered to evacuate — a number that kept changing because evacu- ation orders were continually being issued, officials said. The flames marched toward highly populat- ed and affluent neighbourhoods, including Calabasas and Santa Mon- ica, home to California’s rich and famous. Hollywood stars, including Mark Hamill, Mandy Moore and James Woods, were among those forced to flee. “We are prioritizing life over ev- erything else,” Sheriff Robert Luna said. The fires have consumed a total of about 56 square kilometres — about half the size of the entire city of San Francisco. Jennie Girardo, a 39-year-old producer and director from Pasade- na, said she was alarmed when her neighbour came to check on her. “When I opened my door, it smelled like I was living inside of a fireplace,” she said. “Then I also started to see the ash. And I’ve nev- er seen that in my life. Like raining ash.” JAIMIE DING, CHRISTOPHER WEBER AND JULIE WATSON ● WILDFIRES, CONTINUED ON A2 ● CARTER, CONTINUED ON A3 ● DEATH, CONTINUED ON A2 ● MORE COVERAGE ON C8 MARC GALLANT / FREE PRESS FILES Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter worked at two Habitat for Humanity building blitzes in Winnipeg. ETHAN SWOPE / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Megan Mantia and boyfriend Thomas return Wednesday to survey the ruins of her home, destroyed in the Eaton fire. It is one of three wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area. ;