Yellowknife fire department call-out Tuesday cost almost $2K
No details released yet on cause of fire at uninhabited downtown bungalow
A small uninhabited bungalow on 51 Street in downtown Yellowknife remains standing after members of the Yellowknife fire department converged on it at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday evening.
RCMP and the city's municipal enforcement division were also on the scene. The street was briefly closed to traffic.
What appeared to be a plume of smoke rose from the building, or within close proximity, while the fire department was there. Overgrown shrubs and emergency vehicles surrounding the property at the time made it difficult to see exactly where the smoke was coming from, but the next day apparent smoke damage was visible around the front door.
No injuries have been reported. A statement from the city is expected.
The house has sat empty for at least three years without any obvious maintenance or care. An old sign for a Yellowknife taxi company — Diamond Cabs — is affixed to the stone plaster exterior.
Before the fire, the building sat with boarded-up or shattered windows and was surrounded by light industrial fencing. For some time now the fencing has had a section pulled back giving access to the house. The backdoor to the house had been open for several weeks. A toilet was visible to anyone walking by.
The cost of the call-out was $1,992.80, according to a city spokesperson. The property owner, who was not identified by the city, will be charged $500 — the minimum charge for the response — because of the "incident length."
This is the second uninhabited building this year to catch fire in Yellowknife. The first consumed a downtown heritage home in June.
That fire has since been deemed suspicious. According to the N.W.T. fire marshal, there was no reason for that fire to start, with neither heat nor electricity available in the building.
