The Yellowknife RCMP said on Friday an overnight fire in the NWT is believed to be deliberately set in an area hard to access by fire crews..Around 4 a.m., the Yellowknife RMCP received a call reporting a fire on the Deh Cho Boulevard..RCMP officers immediately attended after confirming Yellowknife Fire had been dispatched. Officers arrived and used fire extinguishers to contain the blaze until Yellowknife Fire was able to fully extinguish it..Police told the Western Standard an aerosol can was located on the scene and the fire is believed to be an arson..The area was immediately contained and the Police Dog Service was called in to assist. No one was located in the area and no arrests have been made..“The area (where) this fire occurred is somewhat remote and that means that the person responsible had to specifically travel to the location to deliberately set this fire,” said Cpl. Matt Halstead from NWT RCMP Media Relations..“This fire was set behind the fire defences and in an area where it could have spread significantly before it was detected. This is a serious criminal act and the RCMP will investigate this incident and other recent arsons, to the fullest.”.The Yellowknife RCMP also responded to three complaints of break and entry in the early morning hours of Friday as people flee for their lives from the NWT..The first complaint was a motion alarm at a residence called in by a private alarm monitoring company. RCMP officers attended and determined this to be a false alarm. .A second complaint of an unknown man trying to access a residence was reported. RCMP officers immediately attended and located the man who was discovered to be a family member who was trying to gain access to the residence..The third complaint was reported at 7:30 a.m. on Friday. Officers attended a residence on School Draw Road and determined that someone had forced entry into the entryway of a residence..Damage was also done to a number of windows. The main portion of the residence was not accessed.."This appears to be an isolated incident and there has been no indication of looting within the City of Yellowknife. This matter remains under investigation," Cpl. Halstead said..RCMP officers will remain in Yellowknife and have deployed several additional officers to front-line duties..This means there are many more officers on the road to patrol and deter looting and other criminal activity than would normally be working in Yellowknife. These additional officers are all from specialized investigative sections including the Major Crime Unit, Internet Child Exploitation Unit, Federal Arctic Unit and the Forensic Identification Unit..There are also two officers with the Police Dog Service and two Police Service Dogs in the community that are available to provide additional support to uniformed officers..The NWT RCMP said this allows them to conduct a full range of investigations as these officers can provide their specialized services whenever needed..Anyone who has information about the arson is asked to contact the Yellowknife RCMP at 867-669-1111..READ MORE: Thousands flee Yellowknife as wildfire approaches.Residents have been told by officials they have to clear out of Yellowknife by Friday afternoon..The citywide evacuation was issued Thursday night as thousands of people hit the road south to Alberta..The Northwest Territories (NWT) government has taken over the reins from the City of Yellowknife, putting a fire retardant line down beyond the work that the city is doing for additional protection..On Thursday, officials said a wildfire 16 km west of Yellowknife could reach it by the weekend.."We know everyone is looking for information," NWT Fire stated.."We're doing our best to work with our crews who are actively fighting fires across the territory to get updates out.".READ MORE: WATCH: NWT RCMP says Long Lake fire in Yellowknife was arson, four youths charged.RCMP in Yellowknife said a fire started in Long Lake on Tuesday has been determined to be arson..The Mounties said it responded to two calls relating to arsons in the city on Tuesday night around 10:03 p.m..RCMP officers were on patrol and spotted a fire near Long Lake and called the Yellowknife Fire Department.."The cause of the fire has been determined to be arson," The NWT RCMP said.."A witness in the area reported seeing two men running from the area wearing black clothing.".The Northwest Territories Police Dog Service attended in an effort to track the suspects but they were not located.
