Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 09/02) - Cabin owners at Tibbitt Lake battled a cabin fire on Monday, virtually extinguishing the blaze before firefighters responded to the scene.

Lance Schmidt, RWED's manager of forests for the North Slave region, said Kelly Morin reported an old abandoned cabin was on fire at approximately 1:20 Monday afternoon.

Yellowknife firefighters were not available at the time, said Schmidt, so Frank Channel firefighters in Rae-Edzo were dispatched to the scene. They arrived at the location at approximately 3 p.m., but found the blaze was already under control.

"From my understanding, local cabin owners started putting a lot of water on the fire.

"So by the time we got there, there was really nothing left as far as smoke or fire goes. It was essentially put out by locals," said Schmidt.

Some surrounding trees and brush were charred as a result of the blaze, but the residents were successful in preventing a forest fire.

Schmidt said an investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire, but said it was likely caused by a person or persons since there was no lightning reported in the area.

The residents quick response to control the blaze impressed forestry officials. Schmidt said cabin-owners have battled fires in the past, concerned about the protection of their own property.

Nevertheless, Schmidt said he commends their efforts.

The abandoned cabin was damaged beyond repair.