A fire in the laundry room on the first floor of the Yukon Inn sent the hotel's guests into the parking lot for two hours early this morning.

Patrons at the hotel got the wake-up call at around 2 a.m. when the building's fire alarm first began to go off.

The strident ringing cut out a couple of times. Sleepy guests seemed undecided as to whether to evacuate, many taking the time to get dressed and collect their belongings before heading out into the -3 C weather.

To anyone leaving from the newer wing of the building, the faint smoke haze as they neared the lobby made it clear this was not a drill. That realization was underlined by the arrival of units from the Whitehorse Fire Department within 10 minutes of the alarm going off.

A pumper was soon laying hose at the rear door of the new wing, while other vehicles took up posts around the rear and sides of the hotel.

Hotel guests fired up their own vehicles for warmth and settled in for a longer haul, some pulling out cameras to record the event, others reclining their seats and dozing.

Still others walked or drove away and later returned with steaming cups of coffee or hot chocolate.

As the hour passed, it became clear firefighters' attention was focused on the corner of the building where the laundry room is located, and some guests reported being told by firefighters that this was the location of the fire.

By 3:20 a.m., firefighters were winding down operations, except for the ladder truck. That vehicle had been moved in front of the main entrance with its extended ladder to allow firefighters access to the roof, where they examined the area around a chimney before coming down.

A hotel employee began to make the rounds of the parking lot, confirming the location of the fire, saying it had started near a sprinkler, which had helped the situation, and that the alert would soon be over.

At about 3:45, guests were permitted back into the hotel and to their rooms, except for the new wing, where they had to wait in the lobby for a few more minutes before getting the all-clear. The damage in the laundry room was clear to the patrons as they returned to their rooms.

The alarm fired several more times between then and 4:30, but these were not emergencies and guests were able to get back to sleep.

Whitehorse Fire Chief Clive Sparks said this morning he estimates the fire caused $50,000 in damage to the hotel.

'There was a fair bit of damage,' he said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, he added.