'Ridiculous': Passersby find fire burning unattended at Yellowknife River

When Cassandra Thibaultand Amos Williams were out for a drive on Monday night, they weren't expecting to act as impromptu firefighters.

But that's what happened when the two found an unattended fire burning on a slab of concrete atthe Yellowknife River day use area.

"It was still fairly large and extremely hot ... Things were just quite literally spilling over," said Thibault, adding that it could be spotted from the road at a distance.

"With a bit of wind, that could have spread very, very, very quickly."

Thibault said there was a truck nearby, but nobody in sight. She said they started yelling to see if anyone was in earshot.

"There was no one," she said.

After finding a few bucketshanging off of asignpost, Thibault said they began going back and forth from the river, dousing the fire.

She estimatesthe fire had been burning for a long time.

"The water was steaming off almost instantly and they were just popping and crackling rather aggressively," she said, adding that pieces of debris flung toward them. "It was a little frightening."

[I'm] commendingthe individuals for their quick and immediate actions.- Drew Williams, Spokesperson for Department of Industry, Tourism, Investment

She said it took more than half an hour and about10 to 12 buckets to completely put it out.

"And there was nobody to be found the entire time," said Thibault, a born-and-raised Yellowknifer."That close to town, people just leaving this kind of thing unattended is ridiculous."

Thibaultsaid she first called the RCMP, who forwarded her to the Yellowknife fire department, who then asked her to contact the territorial government.

"At the very least, there needs to be more awareness that there are buckets out there, and there needs to be signs," said Thibault.

She's asking people to practise campfire safety.

Drew Williams, a spokesperson for the N.W.T. Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment said he's "commendingthe individuals for their quick and immediate actions."

In an email response, Williams said he remindsparks users to extinguish their fires "even when they are using the established fire pits in our recreational-use areas."

In an update Tuesday afternoon, the department said theincident is under investigation by parks enforcement.

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