A suspicious fire in an unoccupied Faro apartment building Tuesday night could easily have spread into a residential section of town if not for the community response, says town councillor Michelle Vainio.

'I figure Faro was blessed because had it been an hour later, I could have been a totally different scenario,' she said from Faro today. 'We were fortunate, we were very fortunate.

'It really lit up the sky over Faro, with flames that shot up I do not know how high.'

Vainio said one of the community's volunteer firefighters was driving by the apartment building shortly before midnight, when he and his passenger thought they saw something coming from the roof of the three-storey apartment.

The firefighter called the firechief, and the town was alerted with a tentative blast from the community fire siren, because they still weren't sure if there was a fire, the councillor said.

Not long afterward, the community was responding.

And while the response to the apartment fire was underway, another fire in the nearby Faro Hotel was detected and put out.

The Faro firechief and deputy chief were unavailable for comment, as they as busy with the Yukon River Quest.

The Yukon's fire marshal was enroute from Faro this morning to Whitehorse, and could not be reached for comment.

Vainio said she was unsure about the extent of damage to the apartment building, though the entire roof was destroyed, for sure.

RCMP 'M' Division spokeswoman Brigitte Parker said early this afternoon the fires are considered suspicious and police are conducting an investigation in conjunction with the territory's fire marshal.

Police were called at around 11:50 p.m. Tuesday about both blazes in the abandoned buildings. The fire at the Faro Hotel was put out quickly after it started from a mattress, she said.

Meanwhile, the fire at the apartment building took longer to extinguish as flames shot out of the third floor.

'The roof is caved in,' said Michael Brine, a local realtor in Faro.

Though both buildings were abandoned, the apartment building had been used to house visiting sports teams and others who might be in town for events.

No one was staying in the buildings at the time of the fire, he said.

The apartments were used as housing for bachelors and couples when the nearby lead-zinc mine was in operation.

Faro was destroyed by a forest fire early in the summer of 1969, not long after the mine opened and the community began to take roots.

Vainio said the seven qualified firefighters were engaged with the firefighting effort, the ambulance crew responded, the police were on the scene, and other community members were doing whatever necessary to assist.

The public works department was rustled to ensure sufficient pressure at the pumphouse to maintain a safe water level.

While the town's chief administrative officer isn't a firefighter, he was using his six-foot, five-inch frame to help pull the hose.

Staff from the recreation department were at the rec centre brewing coffee for those who had just been rousted from bed.

'In my mind, I believe the real story is we have a lot of heroes in this community, and when push comes to shove, they pull together.'

Vainio said there was the potential to lose a residential section of town.

Had the fire broke out an hour later, Faro would have been asleep, because that is the way it is in a small town, she said.

Had the fire had a chance to really take hold, it could have easily spread to the occupied residential section area right next door to the burning apartment building.

'I have to tell you that as a community member, I have never been so proud of this community,' said Vainio.

Ambulance worker Cyndy Bekk remained on the scene at the apartment for more than five hours while the blaze was brought under control after being called out around 11:45 p.m.

'There were flames shooting out through the roof,' Bekk said, noting she was grateful no one was in the building at the time.

The building, she said, has been empty for the 3 1/2 years she's lived in the town, with the exception of the Farrago festival as a residence for musicians in town.

Among those on the scene with Bekk was her co-worker on the ambulance, seven firefighters, the town's CAO and other town officials and many residents who came out to lend a hand with getting hoses ready or just see what was happening.

Bekk said she was incredibly impressed with how well the community came together in fighting the blaze.

The volunteer fire crew, made up of young members who don't normally see such a massive blaze in the small community, did an amazing job, she noted.

'Everybody pitched in,' Bekk noted of the entire community.

After the firefighters came out of what remained of the structure, the ambulance staff returned to the fire station at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Stephanie Waddell contributed to this story.