SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - With Monday's late afternoon fire behind them, at least 38 apartment dwellers from Coast Fraser Tower must now look for temporary housing as they await word on when they'll be able to return home.

A fly-over of the Coast Fraser Tower by Great Slave Helicopters on Wednesday afternoon revealed the tower's top floor – where Monday's fire began – to be a blackened shambles. No cost estimate of the damages was made as of Wednesday. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

Craig Norris-Jones, vice-president of Coast Hotels & Resorts, which manages the tower for Edmonton-based owner McLab Enterprises, said Wednesday the company couldn't predict when residents will be able to return. The tower also houses 58 hotel rooms.

"We're working with the fire marshal, we're working with insurance adjusters and we are right now determining a process for reopening the hotel," said Norris-Jones, who flew to Yellowknife from Edmonton Tuesday night to help Catherine Travis, general manager of the building, handle questions from residents.

While no cost estimate of the damage to the building was made as of Tuesday, the city of Yellowknife's fire department confirmed, via press release, that the water damage is "extensive."

"The fire was contained to the 14th floor (which houses two suites plus a conference room) with minimal smoke damage to the 13th floor," said the department.

The fire - which produced a thick column of black smoke that had many Yellowknifers staring up into the sky - began on the balcony outside of the conference room.

A fly-over of the building Wednesday afternoon by Great Slave Helicopters and deputy fire chief Gerda Groothuizen confirmed this much: the top floor of the tower is a blackened skeleton of steel and concrete.

The building's concrete columns had yet to dry from the dumping of 3,500 gallons of water onto the burning blaze on Wednesday.

"It's way, way too early," said Norris-Jones of a full damage assessment.

Sitting outside the building on Wednesday morning in her car, one resident - who refused to give her name - could be heard saying into her phone, "I have to look for some temporary housing now."

Tenants and guests were allowed by the fire department to gather essential items from their apartments and rooms, she said.

"I can go back daily to check on my cat, but I can't get the pet out. The cat is scared and she won't come near me."

While she was staying with friends on Wednesday, she added, "I'm going to go look for something longer-term just in case."

Yellowknife's apartment vacancy rate is projected to rise to 4.7 per cent this year - up from 0.9 per cent in 2008, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Residents and hotel room occupants were housed in various hotels on Tuesday night at McLab's expense, said Norris Jones. As for the cost of ongoing short-term housing, "All the residents, by virtue of their lease, have insurance ... we just want to make sure we fill out any gaps," he said.

Chateau Nova opened 26 of its rooms to displaced tower residents, said Jenni Bruce, Chateau Nova's general manager.

"I think for the most part they were pretty calm. Some of them had to come in without wallets or coats or anything. They'd been evacuated pretty quickly," said Bruce.

Over at the Explorer Hotel, 11 people displaced obtained rooms at the discounted price of $115 per night, compared to a regular price of $190, said general manager Jiten Jattan. He said he didn't know whether they were Fraser hotel guests, apartment dwellers, or a combination of the two.

"They were in need of help yesterday so we helped them out," he said.