Terry Kruger and Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 14/05) - A communication breakdown delayed fire crews from responding to a blaze at Anderson Thompson Tower in which a woman was severely burned.

According to the Yellowknife Fire Department, cell phone calls made just after midnight Aug. 29 didn't get through to the dispatch office at the city pumphouse and an alarm that rang through the apartment building wasn't forwarded to the department.

Firefighters responded when RCMP called at 12:35 a.m. There have been unconfirmed reports the apartment building's fire alarm went off at 12:10 a.m. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 12:52 a.m.

"We received a call from the RCMP to dispatch," said Chucker Dewar, deputy fire chief. "That's how we were notified of the fire."

He said the fire department has been told a number of calls made by cell phones to the fire department emergency line failed to connect.

"The calls just rang and rang and rang," said Dewar.

NMI Mobility spokesperson Kim Iampen said NorthwesTel's long-distance service to Alberta was out and that affected cell phone service in Yellowknife. According to NorthwesTel, lightning knocked out a microwave transmitter near Enterprise at 7:11 p.m. Aug. 28 and it wasn't repaired until 12:35 a.m.

Alarm not forwarded

Dewar said even though the building's alarm system was ringing, the fire department was not alerted.

"We are looking into why we weren't notified of the alarm," he said. "We are concerned."

Anderson Thompson Tower is owned by Polar Developments. Spokesperson Ray Decorby declined to comment.

Dewar said it's nearly impossible to determine exactly when the building fire alarm sounded because the panel in the apartment lobby doesn't record times.

The fire department response was also delayed because two members of the on-duty crew were on a medevac. That left just two professional firefighters in the fire hall. According to policy, the department can't respond to a fire call with fewer than three people, said Dewar.

As a result, standby firefighters and volunteers were called in.

Four police officers went into the burning apartment and rescued the woman, who's now in stable condition in an Edmonton hospital.

Dewar said the sprinkler system put the fire out before police arrived.

He said it was good that people called police when they couldn't get through to the fire department.

"If you're not getting through on your cell phone, try a regular phone."

Newly appointed fire marshal Bernie Van Tighem said the assistant fire marshal is investigating the incident.

Van Tighem said territorial building regulations require that the sprinkler system activate an alarm in a monitoring station.

"If the sprinkler system is activated, then the monitoring station is notified. That is the requirement," he said.

"Part of the fire investigation is determining why it wasn't connected to a monitoring system. I don't think it was and I do think it should be."

Van Tighem said the building sprinkler system and alarm "did what it was supposed to do. They knocked that fire down and did its job very well and the alarm rang and notified the occupants."

Dewar said when an alarm sounds in a building connected to the central monitoring system, it is relayed to the fire department.

Calls to the emergency line, which is any land line prefix plus 2222 for fire, are connected to the emergency dispatch.