City council put its support behind the Yellowknife fire division this week, defending its ability to fight blazes on Latham Island.

During a Monday presentation at council, Deputy fire Chief Darcy Hernblad and director of public safety Dennis Marchiori tried to ease public concerns about the department's response to the fire that destroyed the duplex at 87 Morrison Drive, June 2.

"The system we have works quite well," Hernblad said simply.

Yellowknifers look on as Eighty-seven Morrison Drive burns earlier this month. Deputy fire Chief Darcy Hernblad said he considered Yellowknife Fire Division's ability to deal with fires like this one "adequate," and it does not require additional infrastructure. Jack Danylchuk/NNSL photo

Councillors Paul Falvo and David Wind asked a series of questions that had been raised by Yellowknife media and the public about the feasibility of using tanker trucks to fight fires on city land. Particularly at issue were water shortages at the site, and a large traffic jam during the fire.

"Yellowknife is becoming a big city, with a small town mentality," Marchiori said of the crush of people that came to watch the blaze.

Looking for problems

"Are there specific deficiencies that we need to address?" asked councillor Kevin Kennedy.

"Some fires are going to max us out," Hernblad replied. "For average types of fires, we are more than adequate."

Marchiori said tankers were the "best and most efficient way" of dealing with blazes on city land not serviced by hydrants, which includes Latham Island and the Kam Lake Industrial Park.

Hernblad also brushed away suggestions of tapping into the lake for additional water with an extra pumping system.

"It eats up more manpower," he said. "Someone has to run the pumper."

Also, he said much of the lake in the area is too shallow for adequate suction.

Council seemed satisfied with the answers it received.

"Thank you for putting citizens' minds at ease," Wind said.

"I'd hate for (the public) to think we don't have confidence in our fire services," Kennedy added.

"My heart goes out to that family," Bardak said.

Cups and buckets

Afterwards, Hernblad said the public's perception of the fire was the result of chosen fire fighting methods, rather than any real deficiencies.

Instead of manning smaller hoses, which would have exhausted the tanks in about 10-25 minutes, crews chose to use the hose on the aerial ladder, which can pump 500-1,000 gallons (1,900-3,800) per minute. This exhausted the water supply in roughly three minutes.

"Yeah we're out of water in three minutes, but we hit it so hard and so fast it suppressed the fire so much it made a significant difference on the fire."

He said this act was necessary to control the well-established fire. He compared the act to using a bucket, rather than cups of water to put out a campfire.

"The public wouldn't have seen us run out of water," Hernblad said, "But that whole time the (fire) would be building momentum."

While Hernblad could not give estimates on the time it took to fill the trucks at the closest hydrant to the fire, near School Draw, he said it was slowed down considerably by the snare of onlookers.

"We had a problem, but it was related to traffic."

Mayor Gord Van Tighem was also critical of the public's response to the blaze, while putting his support behind fire crews.

"It would be good if people exhibited restraint and let professionals do their job," Van Tighem said of traffic problems at the fire.

In response to the problem, he said the RCMP and the city's Municipal Enforcement Division were working in tandem to better deal with crowd control at future emergencies.