ManitobaTwo men have filed a lawsuit against the City of Winnipeg, a property management company and a corporation that owns a townhouse complex after a 2024 fire at the complex left one woman dead. Cousins claim city failed to ensure bylaw standards upheld in blaze that led to woman’s deathDave Baxter · CBC News · Posted: Nov 18, 2025 5:27 PM EST | Last Updated: 10 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Nirmaljeet Kaur, 30, died after a fire broke out at a townhouse on Keewatin Street around 3:30 a.m. on June 26, 2024. (Meaghan Ketcheson/CBC)Two men have filed a lawsuit against the City of Winnipeg, a property management company and a corporation that owns a townhouse complex after a 2024 fire at the complex that left one woman dead. Cousins Arshdeep and Kingpreet Virdi name the city, Shelter Canadian Properties Ltd. and Tyndall Gardens Ltd. as defendants in the lawsuit, filed with Court of King’s Bench in Winnipeg on Nov. 7. The two men, along with Kingpreet’s wife, Nirmaljeet, lived in a second-floor apartment at a complex at 820 Keewatin St., where a fire police determined was caused by arson broke out early on the morning of June 26, 2024.Kingpreet was not home at the time, but Nirmaljeet and Arshdeep were, the lawsuit says. The suit says the fire began in or around the building under the plaintiffs’ apartment, and quickly spread, engulfing the second-storey apartment’s entrance, as well as the stairs outside the unit. According to the lawsuit, the apartment had no fire escape, back door or window that could be used to escape, leaving the two trapped in the fire. No fire or smoke alarms went off until Arshdeep opened the front door in an attempt to escape, the statement of claim says.Though both got out, Arshdeep suffered burn injuries to his face, hands and eyes, as well as inhalation injuries, the lawsuit says.Nirmaljeet suffered both burn and inhalation injuries. She was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead on June 30, 2024.Following her death, Izak Sararas, then 27, was charged with manslaughter, two counts of arson with a disregard for human life and four counts of causing property damage, according to police. The lawsuit alleges the “unsafe conditions constituted a trap which was inherently dangerous,” and says all three defendants owed the plaintiffs a duty of care while they lived in the complex. It says the city is liable for issuing permits and approvals to the building, which the statement of claim says “did not conform with applicable bylaws, regulations, statutes and building codes.”Crews respond to the Keewatin Street fire on the morning of June 26, 2024. (Meaghan Ketcheson/CBC)It also accuses the city of not subjecting the building to “timely inspections to ensure its continued safety.”It accuses Shelter Canadian Properties, as the property manager, and Tyndall Gardens, as the registered owner, of failing to ensure that the apartment had at least two means of exit, failing to ensure it met applicable bylaws and/or building codes, and failing to ensure that fire alarms were in working order.None of the allegations have been tested in court, and no statements of defence have been filed.Arshdeep is now seeking unspecified damages and special damages due to the fire, while Kingpreet is acting on behalf of his wife’s estate, and is seeking damages he says were incurred due to his wife’s death.ABOUT THE AUTHORDave Baxter is an award-winning reporter and editor currently working for CBC Manitoba. Born and raised in Winnipeg, he has also previously reported for the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as several rural Manitoba publications.
‘Unsafe conditions’ left Winnipeg tenants trapped in fatal fire, lawsuit against city, property owner alleges
