Unattended hot pot leads to weekend kitchen fire in CamBay

A late-night kitchen fire this past weekend at a Cambridge Bay housing unit caused $15,000 in damages.

The fire resulted from a pot that melted onto a stove element when the burner was left on, a May 14 RCMP news release said.

The heat from the burning pot then caused the range hood above the stove to catch fire and melt.

“Luckily the flames were observed by a community member, who in turn called the RCMP,” the news release said.

That call came in at 1:55 a.m., alerting police to the fire, which broke out within a multi-dwelling building on Okpik St..

Police then notified the Cambridge Bay volunteer fire department.

When an RCMP member and fire chief Keith Morrison arrived, “the fire on the stove had extinguished itself, the stove was turned off and the pot removed from the stove to prevent further spread of fire,” the release said.

The first responders found and evacuated a woman, lying “unconscious on the couch,” and a man, also unconscious, found in a bedroom of the same residence, police said.

The two were treated at the health center for smoke inhalation and released.

The fire was restricted to just one unit of the multi-dwelling building.

If you have any information in regards to the fire that you believe will assist with the investigation into this incident, the Cambridge Bay RCMP detachment wants to hear from you at 983-0123.