Old Town fire called suspicious
$1 million Jackfish power generator damaged by separate fire Monday
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A retired couple's Latham Island home received relatively minor damage Tuesday morning from what the city's fire chief described as a suspicious vehicle fire.
A vehicle was destroyed and Sandy Hamilton's Otto Drive home damaged by a fire early Tuesday morning. - Shane Magee/NNSL photos
A firefighters stands in the doorway to a mobile diesel generator at the Northwest Territories Power Corporation's Jackfish power plant Monday evening.
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It was the second fire within about 12 hours that firefighters responded to that caused property damage. A fire Monday evening at the Jackfish power plant damaged a mobile generator.
Sandy Hamilton said he was awake inside his Otto Drive home when someone pounded on the door around 6 a.m. alerting him to the fire outside. Heading out onto the second storey deck of the log home that was built in 1977, he saw flames shooting up from the carport area. Hamilton said he is uncertain who it was that alerted him to the fire.
"I came out and he saw that I was out of the house so he took off," Hamilton recalled Tuesday afternoon. "I told my wife to phone the fire department - which several other people already had - and I had a water hose (on the deck) to start wetting the deck down.
"The fire was getting worse so we went downstairs and a couple minutes later the fire department arrived. It didn't take them long to knock it down."
The vehicle was destroyed and part of the exterior of the house beside the vehicle was scorched.
"The way I figure from what they say, somebody was siphoning gas and it caught fire," Hamilton said while pointing to a melted jerry can at the bumper of the vehicle.
Fire chief Darcy Hernblad said the fire is considered suspicious. He referred further questions about why to RCMP.
"It's still under investigation," RCMP Sgt. Donald Duplissea said when asked about the fire.
He said he could not comment about whether or not the fire is considered suspicious.
Chucker Dewar, the NWT fire marshal, confirmed his office is investigating but said it was far too early to speak to any potential cause.
Hamilton said Tuesday afternoon he was awaiting an update from RCMP about the investigation. He said he's also waiting to hear back about an insurance claim.
Both Hamilton and a witness to the fire lauded the efforts of the first responders.
A video shot by Robert Osmond shows flames covering the deck and climbing several feet into the air as firefighters arrive. Within about three minutes, the fire was hosed down and nearly out.
"I saw amazing work of four firefighters to take on a flame that big and save a home," said Osmond, a former volunteer firefighter himself.
Hernblad said fires in Old Town can be challenging to fight because of the narrow streets. People who want to see what's happening tend to clog up the roadways as fire trucks need to come and go to deliver water.
The municipal enforcement division blocked access to Latham Island at the bridge while firefighters worked, something Hernblad said he greatly appreciated.
The fire marshal is also investigating the cause of a Monday evening fire at a mobile diesel generator at the Northwest Territories Power Corporation's Jackfish power plant.
The generator cost power corp. $1 million to install late last fall, according to company spokeswoman Pam Coulter.
The fire department was called to the power plant on Highway 4 at 7:14 p.m. by power corp. employees, according to a city news release.
Smoke and flames were coming from the 40-foot sea can that housed the generator.
"The guys had no problem putting the fire out because it was sort of like a stand-alone building - that's all that was in it," Hernblad told Yellowknifer. The trailer was between the power plant and a large fuel tank that had a sign indicating it stored diesel which Hernblad said caused crews to try and cool the trailer immediately upon arrival. Once power to the structure was turned off, a full effort was made to extinguish the fire. Hernblad said it appeared the generator was running at the time of the fire.
"Initially it looks like it was running so hard that it likely overheated and started the fire," he said.
However, the fire marshal said he couldn't confirm a cause yet.
"These are all observations and it's all anecdotal at this point," Dewar said.
No one was injured and the power supply to the city was not affected.
Jackfish has been providing about 30 per cent of the city's power supply due to low water levels in the Snare hydro system, Yellowknifer has previously reported.
The Crown corporation recently said it was installing five mobile generators at the plant to increase power generation capacity to 32.8 megawatts from 27 megawatts at a cost of $6 million.
"Once the site is deemed safe by the fire department NTPC will determine the extent of the damage," said Mike Ocko, acting power corp. president and CEO, in a news release.
