Yellowknife (May 24/06) - One city councillor wants to see something done about the burned-out cars that litter a popular recreational area on the outskirts of Yellowknife.

But officials said last week they face an uphill battle against the mounting eyesores at the Sandpits, located near the airport.

Municipal officials believe most of the cars are beaters - rundown Fords and Chevys brought to be burned and dumped.

"It starting to become a dumping ground," Coun. Alan Woytuik said. "I think there seems to be more and more of them out there."

The head of Yellowknife's Municipal Enforcement division, Doug Gillard, believes teenagers are behind some of the bonfires. But because the cars' licence plates and any other identification numbers are charred, officers have a hard time tracking their owners.

Gillard said officers managed to track one car to its teenage owner last year. Anybody caught dumping a vehicle faces littering fines and a bill to clean up the mess, he said.

The burned-out cars are more than just eyesores, Woytuik said, who noted the problem is a longstanding one.

Firefighters are forced to waste valuable time dousing the blazes - including one substantial fire two weekends ago and the leftovers are a hazard for the other people who use the sandpits, Gillard said.

"These people aren't thinking very much," Gillard said, who doesn't believe there are more cars being dumped this spring than in years past. Last fall, the city paid to have 13 vehicles removed from the Sandpits.

Most were so badly burned they couldn't be towed and had to be put in the back of a flatbed truck, Gillard said.