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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Two downtown car fires in the past week are unrelated, says Yellowknife fire chief Albert Headrick.

For the second time in less than two weeks, a vehicle in downtown Yellowknife caught fire. Just after 1 p.m. Friday afternoon, fire personnel were called to a car fire in the Precambrian Building parking lot. Neighbouring 52 street was shut down from 49 to 50 Avenue and traffic was diverted by municipal enforcement as crews put out the blaze. - Herb Mathisen/NNSL photo

Headrick said a car fire on the afternoon of Feb. 13 in the Precambrian building parking lot was caused by an overloaded extension cord plugged into the building's wall. The car's owner had a battery heater, a block heater and a car heater plugged into one extension cord that ran into the building's outlet.

The mean temperature for the day was -20 C.

"You have to be very careful when you start plugging in multiple devices to keep the car warm," Headrick said. "Those (extension) cords are only good for the amps they've been approved for." The extension cord overheated and melted, causing the inside of the engine compartment to catch fire.

"Make sure your extension cord meets the amp requirement," Headrick said. "Anything with more than two amps should have at least a 14-gauge extension cord. At least."

Fire personnel were called the to fire just after 1 p.m. Flames shot out from the front of the vehicle and smoke billowed up into the sky from the car, parked just a few feet away from the building. Approximately 30 people stood and watched as fire crews hit the vehicle with foam. Many onlookers came from inside the building. 52 street was shut down from 49 to 50 Avenue and traffic was diverted by municipal enforcement as crews put out the blaze.

Another vehicle fire on Feb. 9 caused a van outside the Centre Square Mall on 50 Street go up in flames.

Headrick said the cause of that firs is still under investigation.

He said the latest fire took only a couple of minutes to put out once the fire department arrived.

Brent Reaney was working at Up Here magazine on the tenth floor of the building when the fire alarm went off and his floor was evacuated. He said he saw at least a dozen people evacuated for half an hour to an hour. "It was kind of a pain to have to leave work, but it wasn't really a problem," Reaney said.