Yellowknife tenants seek new homes after townhouse blaze

Tenants of eight townhouse units in a downtown Yellowknife rental complex are starting over after their homes were destroyed in a fire Thursday.

Fire officials and RCMP continue to investigate the Bison Estates blaze, which they believe is suspicious. It started around 6 a.m. MT Thursday and caused significant damage to eight of the units by the time firefighters arrived.

The burned-out townhouses were demolished by backhoes that afternoon.

Krista Cooper, an official with Northern Property Real Estate Investment Trust, the owner of Bison Estates, said the company is trying to help the families and tenants whose apartments were destroyed.

"We have found apartments for two. We are pretty full at the time, so it is a bit hard, but we are willing to work with them and see what we can find," Cooper said late Thursday.

One tenant, Nicholas Lightburn, told CBC News that he, his wife and two young children left with only the essentials.

"We just threw on what we had — our coats and our hats and our gloves — and just a little bit of formula, a couple bottles and [a] little bit of diapers, and our baby and our kid. We left," Lightburn said.

"We've been in touch with relatives and stuff, so hopefully we'll be OK," he added. "But, you know, what are we going to do, right?"

Northern Property's Cooper said her office has been inundated with people wanting to make donations to the tenants who lost their homes.

"We've had numerous calls [of] people wanting to make donations," she said. "Actually, the phones have been ringing off the hook ever since."

People can donate money to the Bank of Montreal, under an account called Bison Fire, Cooper said.

Supplies, such as clothing and toys for children, can be dropped off at the Northern Property office in the Bowling Green Building on 49th Street.

Waiting to return home

Meanwhile, tenants of the remaining 12 Bison Estates units who were temporarily removed from their homes say they doubt they'll get back in on Friday.

Those tenants were allowed back into the building Thursday afternoon to fetch some belongings, but they could not stay until the power and water are turned back on.

Larry Wykes, a tenant staying at the Capital Suites, said he and others have been called to a meeting set for late Friday afternoon in order for company officials to let them know when they can return to their homes.

"It's just day-to-day now," Wykes told CBC News on Friday morning.

"I doubt we'll get in today. Like, they have this apartment, they booked this hotel for three, four days. So we're assuming three, four days."

Fire crews had severed a waterline while fighting the blaze Thursday, and it may take longer than expected to repair it.