The West End's tragic Haselmere Apartment fire of 1974

January 18, 2009 is the 35th anniversary of the Haselmere Apartments fire that killed 9 people. Only the St. Boniface College fire of 1922, which killed ten, was worse in terms of loss of life. The Medway Court fire of 1929, just blocks from the Haselmere, also killed nine. The 1912 blaze at Radford-Wright on Main Street killed seven.

The Haselmere was a 1920's era four storey walk-up at 559 Ellice, the north east corner of Furby. Today it is the site of a Manitoba Housing block. The building contained twenty-eight suites and was home to forty-two people. Most were retirees or young, singles.

Just before 1:30 a.m. on Friday, January 18, 1974, a passing motorist called in a fire at the building. By 1:32 a.m. a second alarm was raised and by 1:50 a.m. it was a three alarm fire.
Witnesses at the scene recounted the horrific sight. One told the Free Press:

"When I reached the apartment block they had just taken away the first person hurt in a jump. There were people screaming and running all over the place and people yelling for help from the windows. I hope I never see anything like that ever again”.

A cab driver recounted to the Tribune: 

"I felt so sorry for the people up there screaming. People were breaking windows for air, calling 'help' and coughing".

One tenant who escaped first tossed his children, aged one-and-a-half and three, out the window to a fireman on a ladder.

Winnipeg Tribune, January 18, 1974, pg.1

Adding to the misery of the night was the temperature. Environment Canada records show that at the time of the fire it was a relatively mild minus10c but a 35km/h wind created a minus 20c wind chill. By the time fire officials briefed the media later that morning it was closer to minus 20c with a minus 30c wind chill.

Firefighters fought the blaze for five hours before it was considered under control. At 6:30 a.m. Fire Chief Shewan confirmed that they found seven unidentifiable bodies, four people were missing and another twenty-five were injured.

Winnipeg Free Press, January 18, 1974, pg.1

The injured included three firemen as can be seen in the above Free Press image of January 19th captioned: “Winnipeg Firefighters assist injured comrade Raymond Fright who was knocked off a ladder by a falling concrete overhang”, (he suffered a concussion.)

Winnipeg Free Press, January 18, 1974, pg.1 

Later that morning Winnipeggers awoke to the tragic news that eight people were dead. One person died later in hospital, bringing the total to nine. Of the twenty-five or so that were injured most were treated and released soon after their visit to the hospital. Only six were in hospital the following week, most with broken bones.

In the weeks that followed the community rallied to help the victims. The Salvation Army spearheaded a fundraising campaign hoping to raise $5,000. Within a week the surpassed $15,000 and by the end of February the total was $27,000.
 

Winnipeg Free Press, June 17, 1974, pg.5

The fire was considered suspicious because it started in the basement storage locker area, well away from any electrical sources.

Police questioned a number of people and zeroed in on Herbert Wray Williams, a twenty-one year-old who sometimes stayed with his uncle in his suite at the Haselmere. After a couple of questionings Williams broke down and told investigators that he set the fire but it was accidental. He later confessed that it was intentional.

Williams and his uncle had been drinking and got into an argument. He stormed out to go to a downtown hotel to continue drinking and upon his return the uncle refused to let him back in. Williams went to the basement and saw a storage locker full of old newspapers. In a drunken rage lit the papers on fire and left.

The case went to trial and on Thursday June 6, 1974, after only six hours of deliberation, a jury found Herbert Wray Williams guilty of multiple counts of criminal negligence causing death and arson. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. 

The Haselmere was torn down soon after the fire but the victims are commemorated on a plaque in a park behind the University of Winnipeg.

Donna De Witt, 19, of suite 18

Frank Taylor, 61, and wife Ruby, 70, of suite 15

Manuel Matias and wife Maude, 56, of suite 22

Ameena Abrahim, 30, of suite 22

Mary McLean Nelson of suite 9

Doris Janecke, 45, of suite 23

Eva Stempkowski, 60's, suite 16

Image sources:
- Haselmere block and firemen: Winnipeg Tribune Jan 18, 1974, p1
- Fireman down and headline: Winnipeg Free Press Jan 18, 1974, p1
- Williams Convicted headline: Free Press June 17, 1974 p5
- First two victim photos from Tribune, (various dates) bottom three from Free Press (various dates)
 - Modern day photos by me