“You heard the alarm bells go off, you smelled the smoke, and everyone exited the building and met at the muster point. I’m just so grateful that that’s the story we get to tell today.”
This is how Felicia Penner, the general manager at the Quality Inn, recounts the response to the fire that broke out on Tuesday, April 29th at her establishment.
After everyone exited the building safely, billowing black smoke filled the sky in Winkler for a good portion of the day.
Amid the smoke, flames, and a collapsing structure, the Winkler Fire Department, with assistance from Morden Fire & Rescue, fought to contain the situation in a gruelling battle from afternoon until sunset.
Although the situation — as sudden and shocking as it was — is a loss for the city, the community's spirit has come back stronger in its wake.
There is also overwhelming gratitude that things did not turn out worse.
‘We're grateful that it was not at nighttime’
For Penner, the timing of the fire was about as good as it could have been, given the circumstances.
“There's not a good time for a fire to happen, but we are grateful that it was not at nighttime,” she says.
Penner says that because the emergency occurred during the day, many people were at work when it happened. This made it easier to leave the building and resulted in “minimal evacuating.”
A saved canine
The evacuation procedure did not only include humans. There was also a dog in one of the rooms that had accompanied a guest at the hotel.
”The front desk staff, the Beer Store staff, the housekeeping staff, maintenance staff... and we held each other, and we watched as this place that we all worked in, and saw each other in every day, and spent so much time together in, burned down.”
-Felicia Penner, general manager of Quality Inn in Winkler
Because the dog was registered with the front desk, Penner had the chance to rescue the companion before things became dire.
“I was able to go into the room and see the little dog there, and he was wagging his tail and eager to be collected,” she says. “We got him out right away, and his owner was just so grateful and relieved.”
A flaming beloved workplace
According to Penner, watching the rescued dog reunite with its owner in the parking lot was one of the few touching moments the staff of Quality Inn experienced as they gathered to watch their workplace succumb to the flames.
It was a moment that is sure to be etched in their memory.
“I think overall there was a sense of togetherness. The front desk staff, the Beer Store staff, the housekeeping staff, maintenance staff... were just together, and we held each other, and we watched as this place that we all worked in, and saw each other in every day, and spent so much time together in, burned down,” she says, adding that the scene resulted in a mixture of emotions.
“It's crazy that you can feel so much and at the same time nothing at all. There’s shock, [it’s overwhelming], but at the same time, there's such a sense of just acceptance that this is happening and this is out of your control.”
Response in the aftermath
In response to the difficult day at Quality Inn, there has been an outpouring of support from a vast network of people and businesses stepping up to help.
Penner is grateful to Morden Fire & Rescue and EMS for their presence and assistance. She also thanks Dairy Queen in Winkler, which opened its building to Quality Staff and “kept [them] hydrated,” Szutu’s for providing a meal to the group, Renew Wellness for reaching out, Corner 2 Corner Cleaning & Restoration, and Tanya Chateauneuf of the Winkler Chamber of Commerce.
“Through her, we were able to get in touch with Chris [Unrau] from the Loft Agribusiness Centre and Waypoint Coffee,” she says.
According to Penner, Unrau has set up the staff from Quality Inn with temporary business space, where they also have access to counselling services from Pembina Counselling Centre on site.
"Our mission statement was simple: Genuine Care. We made every effort to show that to each other and our guests and the community every day. It's been truly heartwarming to get that feeling back from the community. I'm just so grateful, and so so sad."
-Felicia Penner, general manager of Quality Inn on the community's support after the fire.
She says Waypoint Coffee also provided the team from the hotel with beverages.
“That was a really sweet gesture,” she says. “We're so thankful to be able to have a place to touch base and to meet and navigate these next few days.”
Penner says that other community members have also offered plenty of support.
'There are a lot of feelings’
For Penner, the outpouring from across the community is a testament to how much the Quality Inn means to it.
“It was a really special place to a lot of people in the community. People were there for their weddings, their funerals, building their new homes, starting their new jobs,” she says.
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“There are a lot of feelings inside that building, and it was a really special place to a lot of people, not just the staff that work there .... There's been an overwhelming amount of support pouring in from the community. It's been great to see all of those messages come through and the stories being shared online on our Facebook page. It's just been great.”
What’s next?
Penner says that many questions and unknowns remain as the dust settles at Quality Inn. She says the group is taking the situation “day by day and hour by hour.”
The general manager asks that the community continue its support by avoiding the Quality Inn site as investigators begin their work. She says that as the staff and community process the tragedy, speculation "doesn't help."
“We need to give space to [investigate] and the privacy to do that as well. That's really important, so we are asking the public just to be mindful, [and to please] stay off the lot," she says.
With files from Robyn Wiebe and Connie Bailey