A Sunday evening fire in the Elijah Smith Building will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
Whitehorse Fire Chief Clive Sparks estimated that the price of repairs due to smoke and water damage could come to around $275,000.
Fire alarms sounded at the government building just after 9 p.m.
The fire department responded to the call and located the fire inside the Canadian Border Services Agency’s offices, where an automatic sprinkler system was already working to contain the fire.
Firefighters forced open the office doors and put out the fire within a few minutes.
“The fire itself was not overly big, but there was smoke and water damage in the building, simply because the sprinkler was flowing, and we used a hose as well,” Sparks said.
Officials do not believe that anyone was in the building at the time of the fire and do not suspect foul play.
The results of an investigation into the cause of the fire should be released later this week, Sparks said.
The CBSA offices at the Elijah Smith Building will remain closed for a indeterminate amount of time.
The public can continue to receive services at the CBSA’s offices at the Whitehorse airport during regular business hours.
(Jacqueline Ronson)