Watson Lake, Yukon, couple loses home to fire, community rallies to offer support

The community of Watson Lake, Yukon, is coming together to support a respected elder and her partner after their home and truck were destroyed in a fire.

According to the Watson Lake Fire Department, at around 11:10 p.m. on Tuesday, it responded to a report of a vehicle fire at elder Jocelyn Wolftail's home in the Albert Creek subdivision. 

When crews arrived they saw a truck on fire, and the flames had also extended to the home.

[The fire] was through the roof and into the front of the structure," Joey Chirpin, the fire chief, told CBC News.

"Approximately 80 per cent of the house was involved at that point with partial collapse on the front side of the structure in the roof area."

Chirpin said firefighters made quick work of putting out the blaze, but once extinguished it was determined that the home and truck had been destroyed.

He noted that Liard First Nation also dispatched a water truck to support the fire department with controlling and putting out the fire.

"Crews worked on the scene until approximately 2:30 or 3 a.m.," he said. "I myself returned around 4:30 and sat on scene until close to 5:30, just to monitor the house and make sure there was no flare-ups or further fire occurring."

Luckily, he said, nobody was seriously injured during the incident.

Chirpin said one of the home's occupants experienced shortness of breath from the fire and smoke, and received care from first responders. 

Chirpin said the cause of fire is still under investigation and that it doesn't look suspicious.

Starting over

Martina Volfová works with Wolftail and said the elder is someone who never asks for help. That's why Volfová wanted to do something when she heard the terrible news about Wolftail's home. 

"The house had pretty much everything she owned in it," Volfová told CBC News. "The rest was in the truck. Both of those things are completely burned."

Volfová started a fundraiser to collect money and any sort of supplies people want to donate to help Wolftail get back on her feet.

"I'm just gathering things like dishes, clothing, bedding, and towels and things like that to just get her started," she said, speaking to CBC News from the Watson Lake thrift store.

Volfová said Wolftail is currently staying with her daughter until new accommodations are found.

She said that Wolftail has spent her whole life giving to the community, so she feels this is just a small way to give something back.

"People know her as a teacher at the school," Volfová said. "In recent years she's been working in the community. She's just this really sweet person. Everybody loves her.

"It's the holidays and everyone is trying to stretch their money as far as it can go, but I think it's really important to help people in need. If anyone can spare anything, anything really helps. I know Jocelyn would be really thankful."

CBC News tried to contact Wolftail but didn't get a response in time for publication.