Vehicle fire outside Yellowknife’s CBC

Fire crews responded to a burning vehicle on Yellowknife’s Franklin Avenue outside the city’s CBC studios on Saturday afternoon.

It’s not clear if anyone was hurt in the incident, which took place just after 2:30pm, though video from a nearby parking lot appeared to show the vehicle’s occupants walking away unharmed.

The cause of the fire is not yet known. The city and RCMP have been approached for more information.

Video from the scene showed fire quickly enveloping the front of the vehicle, a silver SUV, which had come to rest outside the CBC heading away from downtown Yellowknife toward Old Airport Road.

Two fire trucks rapidly arrived at the scene. The city’s fire hall is just a few hundred metres from the CBC building.

Traffic was diverted away from the scene, causing significant disruption to the city’s only arterial route. All traffic trying to leave downtown Yellowknife was directed off Franklin Avenue onto Gitzel St, leaving Taylor Road or Highway 3 past Jackfish Lake as options to reach the Kam Lake and Range Lake areas.