Winnipeg Free Press
WINNIPEG -- The East Elmwood Community Centre -- a neighbourhood institution -- has been destroyed by fire this morning.
Firefighters will likely be at the scene of the blaze on Beach Avenue all day, but the structure has been ravaged by flames.
The centre is located in the 900 block of Beach near Kent Road School. The fire was called in about 4:30 a.m. by Winnipeg police officers who spotted it during an early morning patrol.
Heavy smoke forced the evacuation of about a half-dozen homes on the north side of Beach near the centre. A warm transit bus is accommodating residents forced out of their homes.
There is no word yet on a cause of the fire.
By 7:45 a.m., flames were still shooting out of the building. Firefighters are literally wading through a huge pool of water that has accumulated while they battle it.
Sandi Bonin lives just behind the club but hasn't been asked to leave her home. She was awakened by her husband just after 6 a.m., because they thought the neighbour's garage was on fire.
But Bonin quickly realized the community club where she played sports as a child was engulfed in flames.
"I thought, 'Oh my God... that's the club,'" she said. "The fire is huge... it's gone.
Bonin said if the club is destroyed, a little piece of her will be gone, too.
"I grew up at that club. There's a picture of me in there, when I played with a baseball team. It's sad."
It's believed the club was built in the 1950s.
Parents of children at Kent Road School should be advised the school is closed today, according to a Winnipeg School Division spokeswoman.
The community centre also housed a daycare centre.
-- with files from Bill Redekop
the winnipeg sandbox
