Yellowknife (Feb 11/05) - Three blocks of downtown Yellowknife were cordoned off Wednesday after an employee at the Department of National Defence headquarters found a "suspicious item" outside of the building.

Bylaw officer Daniel Larocque redirects traffic away from the Canadian Forces Northern Area headquarters building during a bomb alert, Wednesday morning. - Aaron Whitfield/NNSL photo

A bomb-disposal team from Edmonton eventually discovered the metal object was a car part, which defence officials believe may have been placed on the front steps by a snow-clearing crew.

Take no chances

"In cases like this, it is better to be cautious," said RCMP Daryl Key, explaining the decision to call in the bomb-disposal unit. "We did not want to take any chances."

A commissionaire discovered the car part at 6 a.m. while they were raising the Canadian flag at the front of the building, said Capt. Joanna Labonte about the incident.

Defence personnel called police and evacuated the few people who were in the building. About 40 employees were also told not come into work, Labonte said.

Officers examined the metal object and decided to cordon off the area around the defence headquarters, from 51st Street to 48th Street.

The bomb disposal team - which arrived from Edmonton via RCMP airplane - reached the site around 1:45 p.m., said Key.

They determined the object was not an explosive and opened up the area to traffic a short time later.

Labonte said there was no indication the car part was placed outside of the building to create a bomb scare. "We do not believe this was intentional," she said.

Key said police consider the matter closed.