Police rescue occupants from block after spotting fire

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This article was published 24/02/2017 (2610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Winnipeg police officers came to the rescue of several residents of a Spence Street apartment block during a fire early Saturday morning.

The Division 11 officers entered the burning building on the 500 block of Spence St., which was filled with smoke, around 2:30 a.m. after spotting the fire while patrolling the area. They immediately discerned that – after two people escaped the back entrance – more could be heard yelling for help inside the “multi-room, multi-story building.”

“The fire was getting worse by the moment,” said WPS spokesman Jason Michalyshen.

With firefighting crews en route, the two officers went into the building and helped “upwards of seven” of the occupants to safety.

“Long story short, officers spent several minutes inside calling for people, guiding people out who were trapped,” Michalyshen said. “Thankfully everybody was taken from the home relatively quickly.”

The officers and occupants were treated for smoke inhalation and released at the scene by paramedics.

Michalyshen said the officers on scene, who are without fire gear or oxygen masks, had to make the call, rather than wait for fire trucks to arrive.

“Obviously, you’ve got a very serious situation playing out,” he noted. “They have to assess the situation and ensure they’re not putting themselves at any extreme risk. But they’re going to make certain decisions based on what they observe, what they feel they need to do and what is right.

“Everything played out well,” he added. “Clearly, they went above and beyond, without a doubt.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @randyturner15