A downtown Whitehorse hotel pleaded guilty this morning to violating the City of Whitehorse’s Emergency Services Bylaw.

The Days Inn Whitehorse was ultimately fined $1,500 by territorial court judge Karen Ruddy.

On July 24, the Second Avenue hotel experienced a power failure which also hit other areas of downtown, Porter Creek, Carcross, Teslin, and Dawson City.

On July 25, a hotel guest sent a complaint to the Whitehorse Fire Department about emergency lighting fixtures which were not working properly in three separate places.

“The issue of having non-functioning emergency lighting in public places such as hotels is extremely disconcerting,” Wayne Smyth, a fire prevention officer with the city, told reporters after the court case ended.

He explained that the department investigated a week later, on July 31, after the complaint was received.

The hotel was given about a week before the department would reinvestigate to ensure that the three fixtures were remedied.

Come Aug. 7, though, an inspection showed they had not been repaired – preventing the ability to illuminate path to exits.

“For strangers who are visiting any city, you need to know that: you need to be able to get out in a hurry without having to fumble around in the darkness.”

Smyth added that much of the department’s work is “self-generated” with routine inspections of hotels, restaurants and bars.

Those found to be in violations in the past are paid special attention to, but Smyth confirmed that this was the first time Days Inn had been in violation of this.

What often happens, he said, is that after an order has been issued to remedy a violation, it’s acted on quickly.

“It’s very unusual that we take this action of having to proceed through the courts.

“But at the same time, I believe that the courts are a proper venue to use in order to get compliance from time to time.”

Michael Dine, the city’s fire chief, added that the department is grateful to have received the notice.

“Luckily in this case, we had knowledge from one of the occupants in the building that evening,” said Dine, noting the lights have since been fixed.

“It is unfortunate that we had to write the order to do that.

“But in the end, the right thing has happened and the public is safe.”

There were two power outages in late July, about a week apart, with more than 6,000 ATCO customers impacted during the July 24 failure.

Anyone found in violation of the bylaw can face up to a maximum of a $10,000 fine, six months in jail or both.

The hotel now has 21 days to pay the $1,500 fine, minus the surcharge.