Emergency responders in Winnipeg say snow-covered and rutted roads are increasing the amount of time it takes for them to respond to an emergency.

“Imagine a vehicle that’s 10 times more heavy than your normal car and it’s much wider so they don’t fit in the ruts,” said Alex Forrest, president of the firefighters’ union.

He said his members aim to respond anywhere in Winnipeg within four minutes of receiving a call.

Forrest blames road conditions for increasing the response time to five and a half minutes.

“It might not seem like much but it makes a huge difference,” he said. “You would confine the fire to a kitchen or the room of origin. Now we’re showing up at these fires and the fire has extended outside the building and is challenging the whole block.”

A fire at a home on Pritchard Avenue early Monday spread to a second house and the damage reached a quarter of a million dollars.

Forrest said crews were slow to respond because of the roads.

The paramedics union said its members were frustrated by the conditions as well.

“Our work is in large part based on seconds and minutes and that can be the difference between life and death,” said president and active paramedic Chris Broughton.

Broughton said if homeowners did a better job maintaining the entrances and stairs to their homes it would make it easier for paramedics as well.