Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responds to house fire in Lord Roberts area

Early afternoon on Friday, November 17, 2023, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) responded to calls of a fire in a single-family house in the Lord Roberts area.

The 9-1-1 call came from a Canada Post employee working in the area at 12:01 pm.

According to WFPS when their crews arrived at the scene, they found smoke coming from the house. They attacked the fire from inside the house, reporting it was under control at 12:34 p.m. 

Crews completed a search of the house and no residents were located and no injuries were reported. 

The initial investigation suggests the fire was accidental, caused by the improper disposal of smoking materials. 

WFPS would like to remind the public to follow these safety tips:

• Smoking material should always be extinguished in a proper ashtray or deep metal container.
• Butts should never be thrown from balconies, decks, car windows, or disposed of near any vegetation such as grass, leaves or brush.
• Never use a plant pot as an ashtray. Potting soil is a mix of dirt and a number of combustible organic materials such as peat moss, shredded wood and minerals which are combustible. When a butt is put into a planter, it can smoulder for several hours.
  • Once the container heats up, it can crack, giving the smouldering material oxygen and the opportunity to spread to other combustibles such as decks, balconies, walls, etc.