Partying preceded Yellowknife townhouse fire: tenant

At least one tenant of Bison Estates, which was badly damaged in a blaze Thursday morning, said a loud party was taking place there earlier that morning.

The fire, which began around 6 a.m. MT, destroyed eight townhouses and left residents in 10 other rental units waiting to return to their homes.

One of the temporarily homeless tenants, Larry Wykes, told CBC News that one of the townhouses was a well-known party place. He said he often heard noises from that end of the complex, just on the other side of a concrete fire wall.

Wykes said that late Wednesday night, he heard a party carry on to the wee hours.

"There was something going on because I was woke up about 4, 4:30 in the morning," Wykes told CBC News on Friday.

"It was just normal stuff that normally goes on down there. You normally hear someone yelling, screaming that time of the morning. It's when all the alcohol runs out. There [are] parties down at that end of the building. It's where you live; you get used to it."

Other tenants told CBC News that it wasn't surprising to see drug addicts sleeping in the hallways at that end of the complex.

Yellowknife RCMP and fire officials have deemed Thursday's blaze to be suspicious. Police have spoken to some residents and are interviewing others as their investigation continues.

Const. Roxanne Dreilich would not comment on Wykes's allegation, only saying that information gathered by the N.W.T. fire marshal's office led to the firm decision that the incident should be treated as a police matter.

"The fire is being considered suspicious in nature at this time," Dreilich said.

"We are hoping that we can get some information from the public to help us come to a conclusion with this and bring the person responsible into accountability."

Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call the RCMP or Crime Stoppers.