Yellowknife mini-golf building burns down

Fire destroyed the rental shack of Yellowknife's mini-golf course Monday afternoon.

Craig MacLean, Yellowknife’s deputy fire chief of operation, said the fire department received a call from a passerby shortly after 1 p.m. Monday. The fire was put out in minutes but MacLean said the structure suffered extensive damage.

He said say the fire started at an electrical outlet that a small fridge was plugged into at the time.

"During our fire suppression operation, we actually had the main breaker for the building blow out on us when water contact was made with it," MacLean said. "And the main power line to the building was arcing."

Fire officials called the power company to disconnect service to the site.

There were reports that homeless people had been living in the tiny office.

"I'm not aware of anyone being reported in there," he said. "The door was unlocked to the structure. It is the Frame Lake Trail; it is a high traffic area for people, but like I said, we saw no evidence of squatting in there."

MacLean said the structure is a complete loss, and was valued at about $10,000.

The mini golf course was a city-run property. The Centre for Northern Families had leased the property for the last three years.

Yellowknife mayor Gord Van Tighem said it remained vacant for most of that time.

"They never really got into it other than some of their own programs and so it's been falling into disrepair," he said.

The mini-golf course was built in honour of a Wade Hamer, a young hockey player who died in 1987, and was run by volunteers. Over the years a number of organizations took it on as a fundraising source.

Now the city of Yellowknife will rip down what remains of the burned structure. From there it's not known whether another organization will want to take it on and rebuild.