In the past two weeks, students have discovered fires in two separate trash bins, including one that was still burning when it was found.
One of the trash bins was located near Pembina Hall and Mary Speechly Hall while the other was found near the bus station directly in front of the Tier Building. The bin near residence was discovered by returning resident advisor (RA) at Mary Speechly Hall Priyanka Shankar and her friends last Monday, Oct. 9.
“Me and my friends, we were coming out of the cafeteria and we were going to head to our residence building to study and then we see a couple of our friends coming inside Pembina Hall, and they said that, ‘oh, there’s a trash can that’s on fire,’” she explained.
“We thought that they were joking, but then when we actually looked outside, we could see that there was fire coming out from the bottom of the trash can.”
Shankar said the trash bin was “lit up” and the lid had come off, leaving the flames exposed.
“I didn’t know what to do at this point because I was not the RA on duty that day, I was just there as a bystander,” she said.
It was a windy day and that there were nearby trees she was worried could catch fire.
Shankar said she eventually contacted the RA on duty, who called campus security, but not before a resident attempted unsuccessfully to smother the flames with a fire extinguisher.
One of the videos Shankar took shows the fire burning inside the trash can near residence, while the student with the fire extinguisher is seen attempting to stop the blaze. Shankar said campus security showed up shortly after and permanently extinguished the fire.
The week before, Mikaela Warkentin, a resident advisor with the Arthur V. Mauro residence, found a trash bin that had partially melted after being set on fire.
“It kind of stayed like that for a while, I have no idea how long it had been since it had melted open,” she said.
Warkentin said she was “very surprised” when she heard that a second trash can had caught fire within the span of two weeks.
Security services could not be reached for comment, but director of media relations and issues management at the University of Manitoba Eleanor Coopsammy stated that according to the office of risk and compliance, the cause of the fires is unknown.
Coopsammy stated that although burning trash bins are “not a common occurrence,” the university is not currently pursuing an investigation.
