Man charged with arson after apartment fire in West End Winnipeg

Four police officers were treated for smoke inhalation and a man in his 60s was arrested and charged with arson after afire in Winnipeg's West End Thursday night.

Emergency crews were called to a two-storey building on Sargent Avenue, near Toronto Street, around 9:30 p.m. Several fire trucks, a half-dozen police cars and ambulances blocked the intersection.

Police were told a manset the fire in one of the suites and barricaded himself inside, andwas possibly armed with a weapon, according to a Friday news release from the police service.

Officers went into the buildingan apartment block with businesses on the main level and broke through a barricaded basement suite where the fire had started. They found the man inside,armed with a pipe, according to the release.

He dropped the pipe after being ordered to do so and was taken into custody, police said.

About a dozen people were forced out of the building due to the fire and given temporary shelter inside a Winnipeg Transit bus while fire crews extinguished the flames.

The four police officers were treated atthe scene for smoke inhalation and theman now accused of starting the fire was sent tohospital in stable condition as a precautionary measure, police said.

He is now facing a charge of arson with disregard for human life.

Thefire was contained to the suite and declared under control within minutes after firefighters arrived, a news release from the city states. Damage estimates are not yet available.

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