Apartment fire breaks out in Winnipeg

A fire that tore through two buildings of a Winnipeg apartment complex has left dozens of people homeless.

Officials say 19 fire crews and four EMS teams were on scene at the height of the blaze Sunday morning in the Southdale neighbourhood.

Each building contained 12 suites.

The fire was declared under control around 7:40 a.m., but crews remained on the scene to monitor hot spots. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Bruce Henderson, a tenant in a third-floor suite, says he was watching TV when he heard a big bang.

“Then I saw some flickering out the window, so I pulled the curtains open to see what it was, and the whole deck was on fire already,” Henderson said.

Rav Sangha, a paramedic who was visiting from Dauphin, Mba., said she woke up to embers.

She said she made sure her hosts were awake before she pulled the building’s fire alarm.

“The fire was spreading across the balcony and there’s barbeques and stuff there,” said Sangha.

She rushed outside, but not before banging on doors to warn others.

“I told everybody to ... hurry up because we looked outside and the fire was spreading to the roof and coming to the front. By the time most people were making their way out, there were big chunks of embers falling by the front door.”

Sangha said she and her friend realized the fire could spread to the second building and rushed to pull the other fire alarm and to bang on doors to warn people.