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Fire damages Niven Lake home Early morning blaze destroys most of single-family home on Niven Drive Laura Busch Northern News Services Published Tuesday, July 31, 2012
No one was injured in the house fire. The couple who lived there, along with their baby boy and dog managed to escape the building unscathed and received assistance from residents who came out of their home to see what was happening, neighbours told Yellowknifer. About 30 residents on Niven Drive were out in the wee hours watching the house fire, passing out water bottles and assisting the family as best they could, said Chris Potyok who lives across the street from the burned-out home. "It was nice to see the neighbours coming out and helping and supporting," said Potyok. "I'm glad everybody is okay but it's a shame to see." The Yellowknife fire department was alerted to the fire at 213 Niven Drive at about 3:27 a.m. Full-time fire staff responded to the blaze immediately and found heavy smoke and flames pouring from windows on the upper two floors of the four-story home. On-call staff were alerted and a total of 24 firefighters, three front line officers and two chief officers responded to the incident, stated a press release from the fire department. "There was nobody in the home when the fire department got there but they were outside," Mayor Gord Van Tighem told Yellowknifer. "When they got there, it was already fully involved so their main focus at that time was to make sure that it didn't spread. It was pretty intense." Crews working on the fire got the blaze under control withing one hour using fire suppression techniques, including water and foam, said deputy fire chief Mike Hoffman. As there are public water lines in the Niven Lake area, the fire department was able to draw water from nearby fire hydrants. Fire crews stayed on the scene for a further hour and a half to assist with putting out hot spots. Damage to the property is an estimated $500,000 with extensive damage to the top floors of the structure, said Hoffman. "It appears that it was just contained to the upper two stories," he said. Fire spread fast "It all happened very quickly. One moment there was no fire and then there was," said Kevin Lewis, who lives next door. "The fire department was there very quickly. They did a great job." Hoffman, who has been on the job for about four weeks, is proud of how his team handled the fire. "They did a tremendous job," he said. This is the first major house fire in Yellowknife since Nov. 24, 2011, said van Tighem, which is a testament to the fire prevention work done by the Yellowknife fire department. "It's been a little while since we've had one, which is a good thing, we don't like to have them every day," said Hoffman. The family could not be reached for comment as of press time. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the fire marshal's office.
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