A woman is dead following a fire Thursday morning in a small bungalow on Niagara Street in River Heights.
Zoo gets up close and personal
Winnipeg fire department officials have not released the victim's name pending notification of next of kin, and investigators have yet to release any information on a possible cause.
Damage is estimated at $200,000 to the home and $75,000 to the contents.
A neighbour, Richard Boyd, said he kicked down the back door of the house in the upscale neighbourhood of River Heights around 9 a.m., after he smelled smoke and saw it pouring from outdoor vents.
The heavy smoke prevented him from entering the home.
The blaze was extinguished by 9:30 a.m.
Michelle Bourgeois, who said she worked for the past year doing errands and chores for the woman who lived at the house, arrived for her weekly appointment at 10 a.m. and saw half a dozen fire engines blocking the block of Niagara between Kingsway and Grosvenor Avenue.
"I thought... oh my Gosh! I hope it's not her house," she said after firefighters told her the tragic news, and she'd been interviewed by investigators.
Bourgeois, who said she operates a concierge service, said she has been coming to the house once a week for a year, helping with groceries and yard work.
She said the resident of the home, whom she declined to identify, was 58 years old and unable to get around on her own.
"She was very ill" and confined to bed, said Bourgeois.
Bourgeois said the woman was not ambulatory, and was almost deaf, but said that fire investigators had told her not to divulge details of the woman's condition.
"She's a very private person," said Bourgeois, adding that she does not believe the woman had any family in the city.
There was no wheelchair ramp evident at the front of the small bungalow, and Bourgeois declined to say if the woman used one.
Bourgeois was unaware if the woman had home care or any other professional assistance, but said, "I know there was someone else -- I've never met them."
Bourgeois said she can't recall ever noticing smoke alarms in the small two-bedroom bungalow, and Boyd said he did not hear a smoke alarm when he kicked down the back door.
Boyd lives on Waterloo Street, immediately behind the house on Niagara. Boyd said he could smell smoke in the air as he walked his small kids to school Thursday morning, but couldn't see the source. When he returned, the smell was stronger and he could see smoke coming from the vents of the Niagara house.
Telling his wife to call 911, Boyd went to the front door and banged loudly. He saw a small sign that notified callers that the occupant is deaf.
Boyd then went to the back door. "I kicked the door in and broke the lock.
"There was so much smoke... lots of smoke coming out," said Boyd, who could not get inside.
A woman living next door to the fire scene declined to be interviewed.
Other neighbours said that the woman was very private, and they had never met her.
Police estimated damage to the home and contents at about $275,000. The cause of the fire has not been determined, but the arson strike force is investigating.
nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
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