“It's gone. It's gone.”
Brenda, a Rockhill apartment resident, repeated the words over and over again as she watched her 54 Avenue unit become engulfed in flames early Tuesday morning.
A third-floor tenant at Rockhill – a building that offered transitional housing units for families through the YWCA NWT – Brenda told Yellowknifer she awoke to the sound of a smoke detector, thinking it was a false alarm. Then she saw flames.
“I was banging on windows saying, 'there's a fire, there's a fire,'” said Brenda, who did not wish to give her last name.
Yellowknife Fire Division arrived at the apartment block on the edge of the city's School Draw Avenue neighborhood after receiving a call around 5 a.m., stated a news release from RCMP.
The fire, which, according to sources at the scene, started on the building's first-floor, quickly grew into a massive blaze, prompting a large-scale response from first responders. Tenants residing in neighboring apartment buildings, including Rockridge apartments, were evacuated as flames lashed dangerously close to their units and melted siding on the exterior.
By 9 a.m., the fire had been mostly quelled but Rockhill apartments were left completely gutted – its front collapsing into a billowing heap. The blaze displaced up to 33 families, according to YWCA NWT officials.
Apart from one RCMP member who needed to be treated for smoke inhalation, no other injuries were reported by Yellowknife RCMP, who attended the scene along with MED. An emergency response team and members of Public Works also provided services at the scene of the fire.
“Overwhelmed … overwhelmed. I'm speechless,” said Brenda.
“Everything's in there,” she added as the fire roared behind her. “All my stuff is brand new.”
Brenda, along with dozens of young children and their parents, were temporarily housed in the Multiplex gymnasiumn before moving over to the Fieldhouse. The GNWT health department arranged for cots to be placed in the Fieldhouse.
Mayor Mark Heyck visited some of the displaced residents at the Multiplex.
“I think people are still in shock right now. There's many people who have lost all of their worldly possessions,” said Heyck. “So many families have been displaced.”
Heyck said a number of social-media driven relief campaigns and donation fundraisers – launched just
hours after the blaze broke out – are indicative of the city's strong support.
“Yellowknife, in circumstances like this, always pulls together as a community,” said Heyck.
By 3 p.m. on Tuesday, a spokesperson from Northview Apartments confirmed all 33 displaced families had been re-housed in private units owned by the company.
The YWCA NWT later clarified that 21 families were relocated into Northview properties while 12 have made alternative arrangements with friends or family.
Health Minister Glen Abernethy was at the scene watching of the fire Tuesday morning.
“It’s pretty devastating, that building is definitely gone. I don’t think there’s anything salvaging that one,” said Abernethy.
“Thirty-two families, and that’s the YWCA so families that are already struggling,” he added.
Abernethy said the health department would work with the City of Yellowknife to find housing for the families that are affected and that they would be making social workers available as soon as possible.
RCMP, along with the Office of the Fire Marshal, are continuing to investigate the devastating blaze.
The fire's cause remains undetermined.
-With files from Dylan Short and James O'Connor