The cause of Tuesday's Rockhill Apartments fire remains undetermined as investigators continue to piece together the devastating blaze, the territory's fire marshal says.
“We are in the very early stages of the investigation,” NWT Fire Marshal Chucker Dewar told Yellowknifer Wednesday.
Dewar said the Office of the Fire Marshal is working closely with Yellowknife RCMP to probe the fire – and to ensure all apartment residents have been accounted for.
“We believe we have accounted for all the registered occupants at this time,” said Dewar.
In the chaotic moments that followed the early morning fire – which left 33 families homeless – several witnesses told Yellowknifer the fire began on the building's first-floor.
Dewar confirmed the fire's area of origin has been pinned to the first-floor by investigators. But it's still too early to say what caused the fire, which spread rapidly to the building's upper floors.
“Our focus right now is on that area to determine if there's anything there that we can uncover that would contribute to understanding what caused the fire,” said Dewar.
To get a complete picture of what happened, Dewar said investigators will be looking to the accounts of witnesses at the scene.
“We'll be working with RCMP and we'll be interviewing and obtaining statements from emergency responders, eye witnesses, tenants and members of the public,” he said.
The building's tenants escaped the fire unharmed, but one RCMP officer was treated for smoke inhalation following the blaze, according to a news release from Yellowknife Mounties earlier this week.
While the investigation is still in its infancy, Dewar said there's nothing to indicate the fire was suspicious in nature. But until the probe is complete, investigators can't speculate, he said.
The immense heat of Tuesday's blaze stripped the siding of the neighbouring Fraser Arms East apartment building, owned by Midwest Property Management.
A representative from the company told Yellowknifer the cost of the damage has yet to be determined.
Dewar is asking anyone with information about Tuesday's fire to contact the Office of the Fire Marshal at 867-767-9161.