Erika Sherk
Northern News Services
Wednesday, January 24, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Orange smoke filled the ATM area of the Royal Bank around 10 p.m. Sunday, according to fire chief Reid Douglas.

A type of marine locator device used to mark the spot of a vessel in distress using coloured smoke had been set off in the enclosed space, Douglas said.

"The whole bank and the adjoining buildings were filled with this pretty orange smoke," said Douglas. "There was orange powder dust all over everything."

Ten people from the fire department attended the scene, as well as RCMP and city bylaw officers, according to Douglas.

"We just opened up the doors and ventilated with fans," he said.

Emergency officials tried to contact the Royal Bank to summon someone with a key so that the amount of damage inside the bank could be assessed, but they had not been successful by the time the fire department left just after 11 p.m.

The smoke bomb also affected the Capitol Theatre, located above the bank in the Precambrian building.

"It freaked me out," said Ben Huntus, duty manager. "I thought the theatre was on fire."

Smoke entered the theatre's stairwell - where moviegoers leave the auditorium - through the ventilation system, he said.

Though by the time it reached the theatre the smoke was grey, not orange.

"It was a fair good haze," said Huntus.

Huntus said he went outside and talked to some RCMP officers who told him "a firecracker or something" had gone off, he said.

Chris Hauff, theatre manager, said there was no lasting damage to the theatre.

Douglas said he had never had to deal with that sort of smoke device, but that the fire department had dealt with calls in ATM areas of banks before.

"It's a bit of an issue," he said. "It seems to be a warming place for people. We've had calls 'we think somebody's lighting a fire.'"

However, he said the worst damage the fire department had previously found was lingering cigarette smoke.

The manager of the Royal Bank would not comment on the incident.