Yellowknife RCMP are reporting what is believed to be another incidence of arson, this time on Deh Cho Boulevard around 4 a.m. on Friday.
Police officers and firefighters extinguished the blaze and found an aerosol can at the scene, leading the Mounties to suspect that arson was the cause.
An investigation is underway. No one was located in the area during the early morning hours on Friday and there have been no arrests.
“The area (where) this fire occurred is somewhat remote and that means that the person responsible had to specifically travel to the location to deliberately set this fire,” said Cpl. Matt Halstead, NT RCMP media relations. “This fire was set behind the fire defences and in an area where it could have spread significantly before it was detected. This is a serious criminal act and the RCMP will investigate this incident and other recent arsons to the fullest.”
READ MORE: Yellowknife RCMP respond to two arson calls overnight Tuesday; four girls charged
In separate incidents, the Yellowknife RCMP responded to three complaints of break and enters during the early morning hours on Friday.
The first complaint was a motion alarm at a residence called in by a private alarm monitoring company. Officers attended and determined this to be a false alarm.
A second complaint of an unknown man trying to access a residence was reported. The police immediately attended and located the man, who was discovered to be a family member who was trying to gain access to the residence.
The third complaint was reported at 7:31 a.m. Officers arrived at a residence on School Draw Avenue and determined that someone had forced their way inside the entryway of a residence. Damage was also done to a number of windows. The main portion of the residence was not accessed. This appears to be an isolated incident and there has not been any indication of looting within the City of Yellowknife. This matter remains under investigation.
RCMP officers will remain in Yellowknife and have deployed several additional officers to front line duties, the Mounties stated in a Friday morning news release.
“This means that there are many more officers on the road to patrol and deter looting and other criminal activity than would normally be working in Yellowknife. These additional officers are all from specialized investigative sections including the Major Crime Unit, Internet Child Exploitation Unit, Federal Arctic Unit and the Forensic Identification Unit. There are also two officers with the Police Dog Service and two Police Service Dogs in the community that are available to provide additional support to our uniformed officers. This allows the RCMP to conduct a full range of investigations as these officers can provide their specialized services whenever needed,” the RCMP stated.
Anyone who has information about the arson is asked to contact the Yellowknife RCMP at 669-1111 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or www.nwtnu.crimestoppersweb.com. In the event of an emergency call, 911.