A house fire that threatened the life of a teenaged boy in Dawson City on Tuesday morning has drawn renewed attention to the lack of 911 services in the communities.

A man overheard a smoke alarm at a house on Seventh Avenue just north of Princess Street, around 6:30 a.m.

To assist a teenaged boy sleeping inside, he broke a window and helped him out of the home, part of a row of Yukon Housing Corp. units.

The man then ran to the neighbouring house, which was singed in the blaze, and yelled for the occupant to call 911, Dawson Fire Chief Jim Regimbal told the Star.

"So it still goes to show that 911 is definitely needed in the outlying communities,” said Regimbal, a member of the Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs.

"This has been ongoing for quite some time, to no avail. It's disturbing that it's not in the communities, and it's something like this that hits home.”

He noted that despite living in Dawson for more than 20 years, the rescuer still suggested dialling 911.

Nonetheless, Regimbal was impressed with how effectively the man, who wishes to remain unnamed, handled the situation.

"Watching how this was all orchestrated was just phenomenal,” he said.

The boy remains in the Dawson Community Hospital.

Dawson RCMP said he is suffering from smoke inhalation.

The teen's mother, Gail Reid, had already left for work when the fire broke out, Regimbal said.

The diligent civilian also helped rescue a dog named Ranger and cat, who remains anonymous.

Regimbal estimated the house sustained $300,000 in damage to its roof and back.

Yukon Housing is looking at demolishing the building, he said.

He said the cause of the fire was "improper discarding of cigarettes into a combustible container — accidental for sure.”

Meanwhile, Liberal Leader and Klondike MLA Sandy Silver says the territorial government has stalled for too long on bringing efficient emergency phone service beyond the Whitehorse area.

"This government has clearly made a determination that full 911 service is not a full priority for them in the Yukon,” Silver said in an interview.

Earlier this year, the government tested an emergency response system — which the Department of Community Services has dubbed an "interim 911 system,” or "911 autoselect” — that would run via landlines across the territory.

"Were it not for the fact that we've been informed by the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) that we need to go through a regulatory process before activating it, we would currently, right now, have 911 in place in all Yukon communities,” Community Services Minister Brad Cathers said in the house on April 2.

But Silver highlighted what he saw as a misleading characterization in Cathers' use of "911,” pointing to a letter to the government from the CRTC.

"The Yukon interim rural 911 emergency response access system service proposed in your letter does not meet basic 911 or enhanced 911 service definitions,” the CRTC stated in the letter, dated March 24.

Silver elaborated in the house last month: "Why did the minister tell Yukoners that 911 has been tested in all of the communities when the CRTC had already told him the system he was testing did not even qualify as 911?”

The interim system would allow Yukoners outside 911 range — anywhere beyond the Whitehorse area — to dial 911 from a landline and choose from "autoselect options.” Residents could dial 1 for police, 2 for fire and 3 for ambulance, connecting them with local responders.

"While that is not seen as an integrated 911 system, the intention of that was that it would immediately connect someone who didn't know the emergency service number to whatever service they're in need of,” Cathers said in an interview today.

As it stands, people in emergency scenarios can dial one of three seven-digit numbers to reach one of the three responders.

"In order for CRTC to consider something 911, there must be a verbal exchange of information,” Silver insisted last month. "The system the minister did test in all Yukon communities does not include this essential exchange.”

Before the interim system can be implemented, Northwestel Inc. would have to apply for approval from the CRTC.

Cathers said he has requested that the carrier go ahead with the tariff application.

He could not offer a timeline for what he perceives will be a phased approach to full 911 service across the territory.

"Anytime you're working with a lot of partners, there are logistical issues that need to be dealt with,” he said, adding that Northwestel would have to make "systems upgrades.”

As another potential obstacle, Cathers gave the example of a 911 dispatcher in Whitehorse who "lacked familiarity with a place like Carmacks” trying to handle a caller's "reference to Teddy's Place or Mary's House.

"I think those difficulties are always solvable, but when that's a concern raised by the communities, it's important that we treat that seriously,” he said.

"The bugs have to be worked out so that it doesn't become a well-intentioned system that has unanticipated flaws.”

Silver, who has been calling for territory-wide 911 service for more than two years, was not impressed.

He called the interim solution "just another stall tactic by a government that's not prepared to put their money where their mouth is, and we almost lost a life because of it.

"If it wasn't for this Good Samaritan who was walking by, that kid, who's an ex-student of mine, wouldn't be with us right now,” he said.