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Winnipeg’s 144-year-old Manwin Hotel is burning and emergency crews have shut down a stretch of Main Street to battle the flames in the vacant building.
Thick smoke has choked the air as multiple firefighters and an aerial ladder spray water on the two-storey structure, parts of which had collapsed by 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Firefighters were called to the inner-city hotel around 4 a.m. and neighbouring buildings on both sides of the hotel were evacuated.
The northbound and southbound lanes of Main, between Disraeli Freeway and Higgins Avenue, are closed to traffic.
Logan Avenue, between King Street and Disraeli is also closed in all directions.
Firefighters were called to the hotel around 4 a.m. Wednesday and have Main Street shut down in the area. (Meaghan Ketcheson/CBC)
The hotel, which once served as a long-term residence for dozens of people, has been closed for a year.
It was the subject of dozens of visits by city inspectors and had been temporarily closed on multiple occasions for health hazards.
It was also the scene of several homicides over the past decade.
Fire crews spray down rubble from the ManWin Hotel. (Meaghan Ketcheson/CBC)
The city, in January 2025, ordered the hotel to be permanently closed for electrical, structural, fire-safety and other livability issues.
It is next door to Main Street Project, an organization that provides services to people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health challenges.
Buses have been brought in to shelter people in the area who are homeless.
The hotel first opened in 1882 as the Walker House and was later renamed the Britannia Hotel, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.
It has gone through several names over the years, including Maple Leaf Hotel, National Hotel and eventually the ManWin.
