The Yellowknife Fire Department was called on three separate occasions to contain a fire on the north side of Latham Island in Ndilo on Tuesday afternoon, but never showed up, says resident Norman Betsina. The first call came in at about 1 p.m. after Betsina's snowmobile caught fire while his daughter was riding it.
Betsina was near the Explorer Hotel when he was alerted to the fire. He could see smoke from the blaze, he said.
Betsina said he called emergency services.
The fire department called back and said they would not respond, he said.
“My common-law wife answered the phone and they told her they weren't coming, then hung up,” he said.
Using shovels and a fire extinguisher, Betsina and two friends put the fire out themselves, piling snow onto the flaming snowmobile in an effort to contain the blaze, he said.
“We were putting our lives at risk and we're not as equipped as the firefighters,” said Betsina.
Betsina claims the fire department failed to respond because the blaze was located near the Yellowknives Dene First Nations community.
“I think it is because we are in Ndilo,” he said.
Betsina is upset emergency services failed to respond and wants answers from the fire department and the city.
“We pay into all these municipal services and this is the result we get,” said Betsina. “What we should do is start our own fire department here in Ndilo.”
YK Fire Chief John Fredrericks speaks to reporters at city hall in 2016. Currently Fredericks is addressing accusations of racism after the fire department did not respond to a call of a snowmobile fire in Ndilo on Tuesday.
Yellowknife Fire Chief John Fredericks said the fact Ndilo is an Indigenous community played no part in the department's decision not to respond.
“I don't know how you can look at us not responding to that call as discrimination,” said Fredericks. “We've responded to many calls in Ndilo in the past... I'm sorry if any person feels that way but we have to prioritize our calls and at the time we had more important issues in the city.”
In a Wednesday news release, Fredericks said four of the department's five crews were responding to medical emergencies when Betsina's call came in.
As there were no injuries and the snowmobile was a few dozen metres from the shores of Yellowknife Bay, a decision was made not to send the remaining crew, stated the release.
“Since it was on the lake we determined there was no risk to anything else in the area,” said Fredericks. “If the snowmobile would have been in a garage or near houses it would have made us prioritize ourselves differently.”
The Yellowknife Fire Department provides emergency services to the community of Ndilo, which is located within the city's municipal boundaries.