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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
City hall is hoping the purchase of two six-metre sea can containers will be of aid in times of emergency.

The vessels would be used to house blankets and folded cots and could provide shelter during a catastrophe, such as a major forest fire or a winter power outage. All these items, including the sea cans, have been budgeted at $30,000, which will be paid for jointly by the city and GNWT through the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program.

The purchase still requires approval from city council.

Deputy mayor Mark Heyck said he sees a use for the sea cans in dealing with situations similar to the forest fire that occurred near Deline this past summer.

"If we faced a larger emergency where people had to be housed in a fieldhouse or in schools, then these sea-cans, equipped with blankets and cots, could be used to be deployed to that location."

In the event of a winter power outage, Heyck said the sea cans could be used as emergency shelters as well.

"You want to always be prepared for that possibility," Heyck said. "Once the power goes out, then people's furnaces aren't operating either, unless you have a wood stove or pellet stove or something of that nature. In that situation, (having sea cans with supplies) could become critical if we're looking at a power outage of over four hours."

Mayor Gord Van Tighem added the city will purchase the sea cans locally if possible.

"In our emergency plan, we have a collection of blankets and beds and things like that in case we have an emergency," he said.

"So what we are doing is adding to our inventory so that if we need them, it is available."

As for the price tag, Van Tighem said the containers are not being modified or upgraded in any way, but the city does want to ensure they are of good enough quality to properly hold emergency items.

"You want to get one that seals so that when you open them, you've got something you can use," he said.

Robert Trubenbach, a technical sales rep with Richmond B.C.-based Container West - the same company that built the fire training structure near the Yellowknife Airport last June, said for $30,000 he could ship the containers by truck to Yellowknife and would ensure that they had "under-carriage insulation, full cold weather insulation package, and probably heat and lights and power switches, thermostats and maybe even shelving built in.

"That ($30,000) would more than cover the containers plus the supplies that you would put in it," he said.

Beat up, used containers are worth about $2,800, he said, while refurbished used sea can containers are about $3,400. Brand new sea can containers are about $4,200, but by purchasing more than one, Trubenbach said the company could probably offer an even lesser price.

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