Ben Morgan
Northern News Services
Published Friday, July 18, 2008

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - He was walking home from work Wednesday afternoon on the Frame Lake Trail near Matonabee Street, when he smelt smoke.

There was something suspicious about the scent, he thought, so Andrew Geggie decided to go for a hike and investigate.

He left the trail and started exploring the woods, following the smell of the smoke to its source.

"I thought it smelled hot," he said, "I had a doubt that it might only be a camp fire but I really didn't expect it to be; it smelled as if something had been left unattended and it was now burning in the ground."

Geggie is a cultural places officer at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre but before moving to Yellowknife he fought forest fires in Quebec.

He found the fire around 4:45 p.m. After alerting the Yellowknife Fire Department, Geggie went to help guide them back to the location, near the shore of Frame lake between Matonabee and Gitzel streets.

"By the time we came back it had obviously slowed down a bit," said Geggie.

There was a lot of garbage scattered on the ground from a nearby squatter's camp site.

A couple trees had been scorched by the fire, an area around four square meters on the ground was burned black and a what looked like a melted tarpaulin was sticking to a tree.

Geggie explained about what was burning in the ground: "It's called duff and duff is humus-like organic material - and it smells different."

Senior firefighter Craig Maclean of Alpha platoon called Geggie a good Samaritan and thanked him for his efforts.

"People who use the Frame Lake Trail on a regular basis feel very protective of it," said Geggie.

The fire was extinguished quickly.

"It definitely helps when people take the time to locate the fire and lead us to the spot, I mean its just awesome, we really appreciate it," said deputy fire chief Darcy Hernblad.

He said ground fires are precarious and unpredictable.

"We've seen fires that were burning for a week or more because they're burning so slow and then suddenly they hit the right amount of air and get the right amount of fuel and then - boom - away they go," said Hernblad.

The cause of the fire was unclear.

"They start from a lot of different things," said Hernblad. "They can start up very easily."

He said a tossed cigarette, or the spark from passing dirt bike can be enough to start a blaze.