A second fire in Keno City has residents there even more enflamed against the lack of fire protection in the settlement.

On Wednesday, two months after the community’s historic Keno City Hotel burned to the ground, a resident lost the cabin he’d been living in while building a new residence.

The home owner wasn’t available for an interview, but Amber Smith, a neighbour and the head of the Keno City Residents Council, spoke Wednesday about what she saw.

“I received a call from another resident at 10:22 a.m. who noticed volumes of smoke coming from his home. I was so snuggly warm in bed that I didn’t notice. I checked out the window and sure enough, it was blazing,” Smith said.

“I ran across with an extinguisher. Other residents were already on scene removing combustible items like jerry cans and motor oil, etc.

“My boyfriend started hooking up hoses to the kitchen sink and a gas-powered pump. Unfortunately, we were 50 feet short to effectively reach the property.”

Smith said she placed a call to 911 at approximately 10:30 a.m. Since the closure of its fire hall in recent years, the community is served by the Mayo Fire Department – which is 60 kilometres away.

“The Mayo fire brigade did respond approximately 45-60 minutes later; however, the cabin was mostly consumed by that point. RCMP also responded,” Smith said.

“The cabin was small and could have been contained if we had a fire truck,” she added.

“Alexco employees responded with a large loader to haul a motor home out of the way,” she said of the mining company workers. “It sustained minimal exterior damage, from what I could see.

“Thankfully, there wasn’t any wind,” she added.

“There is a new cabin under construction on the property which wasn’t damaged. Residents were piling snow onto and around that structure to prevent combustion.”

Smith said Keno residents are certain the fire could have been put out if fire equipment had been available. The Yukon government removed the community’s fire truck.

“How many homes and businesses need to burn down in Keno before YG takes accountability for the wreckage they’ve wrought here?” she asked.

“They have been de-commissioning Keno piece by piece. Water, fire protection, our transfer station.

“We think the YG would sooner let Keno burn to the ground. At what point is something going to be done?”

The residents’ council has been savagely critical of the government over the lack of fire protection for the last two months – with little progress being evident.

“It’s past time for minister Streicker and fire marshal Paterson to take accountability for a bungled policy,” Smith said.

“They’re out of touch with the realities of rural, unincorporated communities. The made-in-Whitehorse, one-size-fits-all approach to policy-making is ignorant of community knowledge and traditional ways of knowing. It’s failing us,” Smith said.

“The Government of Yukon is aware of the cabin fire that took place in Keno today,” Kathryn Hallett, a spokesperson with the Department of Community Services, wrote in an email statement to the Star Wednesday afternoon.

“We are heartbroken for the community and are sending our deepest sympathies that they are experiencing another loss on the heels of the Keno City Hotel in December,” Hallett added.

“We are grateful to hear that all community members are safe, and thankful to Alexco Resources for their quick action in ensuring the fire did not spread to nearby structures.  

“The RCMP were deployed to investigate and determined that the cause of the fire was accidental. As such, there will be no formal investigation.” she said.

Hallett repeated the government’s stance that it’s doing all it can, but that the situation is difficult.

“Low population density and vast distances make fire suppression in rural Yukon uniquely challenging, with volunteer recruitment and retention being a key component.” Hallett said.

“Personnel with the proper training is integral to a safe fire response, especially when large equipment such as fire apparatuses are involved.

“The Government of Yukon is happy to work with Keno and all communities to train volunteers, but cannot provide equipment to people who are not properly trained to use it safely.”

The government maintains no one in Keno has signed up for the volunteer firefighting training program it has available.

It’s still working on setting up a review of the Keno situation, Hallett added.

The historic hotel, which had been built in the 1920s, was destroyed the night of Dec. 11.

Owner Leo Martel, who had no fire insurance, believes the blaze was deliberately set.