SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A report of smoke in a unit at the Hilltop Apartments resulted in the evacuation of the complex when firefighters found what was thought to be a possible explosive device Tuesday night.

The call was made by a woman living in the apartment at 9:30 p.m.

When the fire department arrived, they found "an odd scene," said Jason Davidson, deputy fire chief.

"The interior search team came across wire strewn throughout the upper level of the building of the apartment going from room to room and also into the attic space, so that caused some suspicion," he said.

There was also a shotgun casing in the middle of the floor in one bedroom, he said.

"As soon as we saw that, we left" and contacted the Yellowknife RCMP detachment, who responded and helped evacuate the building, Davidson said.

Smoke was never found at the scene, but there was a significant amount of heat coming from the apartment, he said, adding there was no power to the unit.

RCMP Const. Kathy Law said the emergency response team used surveillance equipment to determine the wiring and shell casing were not explosive devices.

She said the copper wire was not attached to the shell casing and it was unclear what the wires were for.

"There was nothing dangerous to it, but from a distance, it looked very suspicious, so the fire department's not going to take any chances and we didn't want to take any chances either, so the fire department had everybody evacuated and then the emergency response team went in to check it out."

Lisa Beaulieu, a resident of the building, told Yellowknifer on Thursday the police didn't come to her home.

"They didn't know I was there," she said. "And I didn't know (about the evacuation) until the next day. It's not acceptable. What could have happened?"

Beaulieu said she has received an apology from the RCMP, but she's not ready to accept it.

Const. Todd Scaplen said police went knocking door to door but weren't entering units to ensure everyone was out.

The police did allow the evacuated tenants, who had been taken to the Weledeh Catholic School gym to wait, back into their homes at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The woman who reported the smoke and lived in the apartment was admitted to the hospital for a medical evaluation. Law said she couldn't expand on what kind.

No charges have been laid in the incident.

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