The Kluane First Nation is suing the Yukon government for damages that arose out of a 1999 fire that was started by a government employee, according to an RCMP investigation.

The suit was filed in Yukon Supreme Court Tuesday.

It claims compensation is due for the losses of homes and other buildings, and other developed and undeveloped property.

It seeks compensation for the loss of potential revenue from forest resources that were destroyed, and the losses of trees in the community of Burwash Landing.

The suit also seeks compensation for the loss of value of lands destroyed by fire, and the general loss of the use of those lands, as well as costs associated with fighting the fire.

The Klaune First Nation claims the Yukon government and its employees were negligent by causing the fire, and in their actions to confine it and put it out after it started.

An RCMP report from an investigation into the cause of the blaze that eventually consumed five homes concluded that sparks from a dump fire lit by a Yukon government employee were responsible for the 1999 Burwash fire.

The community of some 80 along the north Alaska Highway was devastated by the fire.

Some in town estimated the value of homes and related structures was itself in excess of $1 million.

One local resident expressed great frustration in the days and weeks that followed the fire. He suggested that very little was being done for him and his children, in terms of providing alternative accommodations for the home they lost.

Concern had also been expressed at the time about the effectiveness of the firefighting effort put forward by the federal government, which at the time was responsible for the territory's forest resources and protection against fires.

In its claim, the first nation argues its aboriginal interest and title to the land in question was well documented, and its use of the land and its resources stretches way back, long before European contact.

Although the federal government had the authority at the time to seek the cost of firefighting from any party found to be responsible for a forest fire, it never did seek those costs from the Yukon government.