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Stop, drop and burn Vehicle fires at Sandpits waste Fire Division's time, says fire chief
Daniel Campbell
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 9, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A vehicle fire last weekend at the sandpits near Yellowknife Airport is part of a trend putting public safety at risk, says a city official.
Unidentified charred wreckage lays at the Sandpits, off Highway 3.The Fire Division responded to a vehicle in flames at the sandpits early Saturday morning, just after midnight. Doug Gillard, acting director of public safety for the City of Yellowknife, said these incidents are all too routine. - Daniel Campbell/NNSL photo |
"It was typical sandpits," Gillard said. "Somebody with a junk vehicle who wrecked it and set it on fire."
The problem, according to Darcy Hernblad, Yellowknife's fire chief, is the nuisance fires at the sandpits take up the firefighters' time.
"I can't over-emphasize the fact that we're here to deal with emergencies. That's what we do for the taxpayers," Hernblad said.
Gillard agrees.
"Anytime someone intentionally sets a fire it definitely takes away resources for what potentially be a real emergency," Gillard said.
Even though the incidents don't typically put anyone at risk, Gillard said the fire department still needs to respond to them with the duty crew, just in case someone might be trapped in the vehicle or the fire moves too close to the trees.
Hernblad worries every time his crews are sent to the sandpits, they'll have a delayed response if a fire simultaneously springs up somewhere else in the city.
Once the duty crew is deployed, if another legitimate fire occurs in the city, the department will need to mobilize its on-call firefighters.
The fire department typically deals with two to three vehicle fires a year at the sandpits, but Hernblad said vehicles aren't the only thing people are setting alight at the location.
"It's usually people having a bit of a party and burning couches," he said.
Hernblad thinks some people might be trying to avoid tipping fees at the landfill by burning big items at the sandpits.
Added up, Hernblad said the fire department is out at the sandpits at least four or five times a year - and it's costing taxpayers money for each trip a tanker and a pumper truck with full crew is deployed.
"If there's a call-out involved, a group alert, it's going to cost the taxpayer on the average, somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1,500 and $2,000 every time," Hernblad said.
Gillard said he thinks people take derelict vehicles to the sandpits to drive them aggressively until they're disabled. They then set the vehicle on fire and flee.
"I've been here (in Yellowknife) for 20 years. It's nothing new, but I think it's becoming more common. We get more of those calls on a regular basis," Gillard said.
The terrain at the sandpits further aggravates the delay to emergency crews. Hernblad said emergency vehicles aren't designed to be driven off-road, but they're required to venture into the pits if the fire is dangerous enough.
"It happens at times, this time we got stuck," he said. One of the fire department's vehicles was bogged down in the sand and needed a city loader vehicle to pull them out Saturday.
Gillard said RCMP have been called to respond to some of the fires, but there have never been any suspects at the site by the time emergency crews respond.
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