Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 19/10/2011 (3269 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Firefighters walk away Thursday afternoon from the aftermath of a huge blaze at Gateway Industries Ltd. on Point Douglas Way.

Provincial plans to develop Point Douglas into a provincial park remain in motion despite a million-dollar paper mill fire that’s still smouldering, Premier Greg Selinger said Thursday.

The mill on Point Douglas Way, owned by Gateway Industries Inc., caught fire late Wednesday evening and Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Services remained at the site Thursday, putting out small fires and beginning mop-up operations.

Selinger, who is also the MLA for St. Boniface, watched the fire from the safer side of the Red River Wednesday night.

"It was very noticeable from my side in St. Boniface as the trucks roared through the neighbourhood," Selinger said of the blaze. "We saw the bright skies on the other side of the river."

Former premier Gary Doer introduced the provincial park plan more than two years ago.

Deputy fire chief Ken Sim said the fire was confined to a paper mill operation on the 17-acre site, adding that damage was so extensive that it may be impossible to determine the cause.

Sim placed the estimate of damage at $1 million at a minimum.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Fire Fighters work hard to contain a large fire that broke out in an industrial area of Point Douglas - as seen from across the Red River off Archibald Street.

There were no injuries.

Traffic in and out of the area is blocked. Northbound and southbound traffic is closed on the Louise Bridge.

Drivers are also not allowed to go eastbound on Higgins from Annabella Street, and eastbound Sutherland at Higgins is also blocked, police said.

The area is expected to be closed well into the morning.

Sheldon Blank, owner of the business, said friends called him at 9 p.m. Wednesday night and told him that his plant was burning.

Blank said the paper mill, which manufacturers roofing paper, had been idle but all the equipment and supplies on the site had been destroyed.

Blank said he believes the other components of the business on the property — he manufacturers soap bars, shampoos and hair conditioners for hotels, and paper used in cardboard boxes — are unaffacted and he’ll be back in operation when the site is cleared.

Blank said he has had problems with vandals in the past, adding he believes the fire was deliberately set. He said he suspects someone broke in Wednesday night and set the paper mill ablaze. He said there have been fires there before, also deliberately set by vandals.

WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Winnipeg firefighters at the scene at Gateway Industries Ltd. at 2 Point Douglas Ave., east of Higgins Avenue, Thursday morning.

Sim said the physical layout of the plant made it difficult for firefighters — narrow laneways snaked through the property that has several buildings and outdoor storage.

Sim said the laneways were too narrow for fire trucks to manouevre and there was limited water access. Fire crews had to access water from hydrants on Higgins Avenue several hundred metres from the fire and use a pumper truck to re-pump water to the fire scene.

The property has several metal and wooden structures that contain compressed paper products and various chemicals.

Sim said there were also environmental concerns — from toxins in the smoke and from petroleum products stored in barrels on the site.

Residents of 15 nearby homes on Grace Street were evacuated Wednesday night when there was a concern the fire could spread beyond the property, Sim said, adding those residents would not be allowed to return to their homes until Manitoba Conservation had conducted air sample testing to ensure there were no concerns over toxic material in the smoke that continues to billow from the property.

This morning, Fire Capt. Claude Provencal said the fire continues to burn on the north side of the site, adding that with the continually shifting winds it’s too dangerous to battle it.

More than 70 firefighters and paramedics were on scene fighting the blaze late Wednesday night.

The business has been hit by fire several times over the past two decades, a fire official told media.

The site is considered a hazard due to the presence of a vast amount of chemicals and paper products, the spokesman added.

Gateway has 10 employees, said Blank, who has owned the business since 1984.

The Salvation Army has been on site since 10:30 p.m., providing firefighters with coffee, tea and donuts.

Winnipeggers heading outside in many corners of the city will be able to smell smoke as the blaze continues to pump smoke into the air.

At 5 a.m. Thursday, Winnipeg police said, "the street closures remain unchanged in the area of the fire and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Motorists are asked to avoid the area and take alternate routes."

Gateway Industries backs onto the Red River. Dozens of people in St. Boniface got a close-up look at the raging inferno from the opposite riverbank.

The company was in the news in April after owner Sheldon Blank said he was suing the city over what he alleges was a selective decision to single out his company for dumping pollutants but not disclosing that a large city sewer line was leaking into the Red River.

Blank is seeking damages from the City of Winnipeg for what he says was a decision by civic officials to launch proceedings against his company without merit.

The civil suit is the latest in a string of legal battles Blank has fought over pollution charges laid against his company 16 years ago. His Point Douglas paper mill was charged with five counts under the federal Fisheries Act for dumping pollutants into the Red River in 1995. Another eight charges were laid under pulp and paper mill effluent regulations for failing to report information relating to the discharge from the mill.

The charges were stayed in 2004.

A statement of claim filed in the Court of Queen’s Bench in April alleges city officials unlawfully divulged private information about Gateway Industries to Environment Canada between 1993 and 1996. Court documents say the city was "selective" in the information it provided to Environment Canada and did not advise federal officials about a large city sewer line leaking into the Red River.