SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
An early morning fire on Friday caused an estimated $90,000 worth of damage to a mobile home located off Finlayson Drive.
Flames destroyed part of a house on Hordal Road early Friday morning, scorching the back deck, part of the roof and the walls at the rear of the house. The resident and her pet were safely evacuated from the home. - submitted photo
|
Fire crews arrived on the scene at about 3:30 a.m. to discover heavy flames and smoke coming from the back deck of the 28 Hordal Dr. residence.
Knowing that the owner and her pet had already been evacuated, firefighters initially focused on getting the neighbours to safety, said Dennis Marchiori, the city's director of public safety.
"There were flames going across that got to the neighbour's house so they were able to get the neighbours out of the house first and then they started working on the actual fire at this unit," said Marchiori, adding it took about an hour to get the fire under control.
The fire damaged the house's back deck, part of the roof and the walls of an addition, as well the main structure. It also melted some of the siding off the neighbouring house and wrecked one of the windows.
The Yellowknife fire department isn't sure yet what caused the fire but pinpointed the back deck as the place of origin. The fire department will be investigating the incident although it is not being considered suspicious.
The main causes for uncontrolled fires in the summer, Marchiori said, are usually barbeques, cigarette butts and fire pits left unattended. Residents should take the appropriate safety precautions, he added.
"Ensure that they have smoke detectors and ensure that they change the batteries in their smoke detectors twice a year. Those would be the biggest ones and then as well if they're outside and they're doing anything that involves any sort of flame, before they go inside the house just make sure it's out."
