Revised - The tragic loss of the historic Keno City Hotel last Friday night has highlighted the potentially precarious position of many small Yukon communities when it comes to emergencies such as fires.

The hotel was lost partly because emergency responders had to come from Mayo because Keno no longer has an active fire department.

The trucks took 90 minutes to arrive, while witnesses say the hotel was a cinder within 30 minutes of the blaze being noticed.

The Keno City Residents’ Council has now demanded an independent inquiry into the state of fire and emergency protection in the community.

Its members have sent an open letter to the government outlining their dissatisfaction. It was also provided to local media outlets.

“Primary among these concerns is protection of lives and property from fire in an old wooden historical community,” an excerpt from the letter states.

“The majority of the residents are elders on pension, though all are active and independent. Many of the residents have served for years on the Keno City Volunteer Fire Department, receiving training as part of that commitment.

“Despite our best efforts in this dialogue with the Yukon government, not only have we not gained any further services or assistance in Keno but we have lost and continue to lose critical services which has and continues to diminish our capacity in town,” the letter says.

The spokesperson for the group, Amber Smith, said “simply put, it was a very dangerous situation in which Keno City had no equipment and no support from the government.

“We got extremely lucky no one was in the hotel and there was little or no wind that night, or much more of the town would have burned. We shall not rest until Keno City has an acceptable level of fire response and protection.”

Community Services Minister John Streicker responded to the residents’ council Tuesday.

“First off, we were all incredibly saddened to learn that about the fire this past weekend and the loss of the Keno Hotel,” he wrote. “We are thankful that no one was hurt.

“Thanks for your letter. Will give you a quick reply right now and then work to get you a full response shortly. I would be happy to support your suggestion to have an independent investigation about fire safety in Keno and our unincorporated communities,” Streicker added.

The Star asked the Department of Community Services about the issue on Monday morning. That afternoon, the department provided the following response through communication spokesperson Kathryn Hallett.

“We are saddened to hear of the tragic loss of the Keno City Hotel. This incident has resulted in losing an iconic and historic Yukon landmark. This loss will be felt by the community of Keno and shared by all of Yukon,” Hallett said.

“We are deeply grateful that the fire did not spread and that no lives were lost. We thank those from the Village of Mayo who responded with six volunteers in two trucks, and we acknowledge and thank Alexco employees for providing water in support of the firefighting effort.”

The statement made it clear that all of the16 unincorporated communities are responsible for the recruitment and retention of their volunteer firefighters.

Training and equipment are provided by the territorial Fire Marshal’s Office.

“The challenge when it comes to fire suppression in Yukon is not equipment, but rather having trained volunteers,” Hallett’s statement said.

“The Government of Yukon cannot provide equipment to people who are not properly trained to use it safely.

“In 2017, the Fire Marshal’s Office removed the fire apparatus from the community of Keno. The 1990 fire pumper truck was deemed unserviceable and unsafe upon inspection, and was not replaced because the community lacked trained volunteers to use the equipment.”

Hallett added, “It is important to note that a fire response is more than just equipment, and the health and safety of first responders is a top priority of the Fire Marshal’s Office.

“A safe fire response hinges on having the right amount of people properly trained and able to operate that equipment safety and proficiently.

“Ultimately, providing a fire apparatus to a community that does not have the critical number of properly trained fire fighters is far more dangerous to human life than the alternative. Had the community of Keno had access to a fire apparatus this weekend, it is possible that an untrained community member could have operated the apparatus, leading to serious injury or death.”

The heart of the debate lies with how to recruit, train and retain volunteers for fire departments.

“Declining volunteer levels is an issue across Yukon,” Hallett said.

“Small communities often struggle with volunteer membership and recruitment. They may achieve positive retention for a few years, but due to a limited population, volunteer staffing levels frequently decrease to the point that fire halls become functionally inactive.

“Keno, with a population of just a few dozen, struggles to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters. The community has not had an organized fire department since 2011 despite attempts both within the community and by the Fire Marshal’s Office to support community enthusiasm for training a new group of firefighters,” Hallett said.

The volunteer fire departments in Mendenhall, Pelly Crossing, Ross River and Keno are “currently considered closed, as no active volunteers exist within the communities.

“In communities where the community size and location make volunteer fire halls not sustainable, the Fire Marshal’s Office is committed to providing a measured, appropriate response through mutual-aid agreements, or special operations teams, such as Special Heavy Operations Team and Special Operations Medical Extrication Team, deployed from Whitehorse.”

Hallett added, “In the case of Keno, the neighbouring town of Mayo has a robust fire department complete with a critical mass of trained volunteers. As such, it is beneficial to invest in departments like the Mayo fire department so that they are able to expand their supports to nearby unincorporated communities.”

Professional and safety standards stipulate a minimum of six firefighters are needed to respond to an incident.

Streicker said much the same thing Monday during question period in the legislature.

Streicker said Keno simply didn’t have enough volunteers to create an active department, and that’s why the station is inactive and the equipment was removed.

Yukon Party MLA Brad Cathers said the party was well aware of the difficulties in staffing emergency services in the smaller communities.

It’s past time the government had an intense look at the situation, and try to find a solution, he said.

He called the fire a sad day for the Yukon, and passed his regrets on to the residents of Keno.

NDP Leader Kate White has clashed with Streicker and the government previously over this issue.

“We understand the challenge of recruiting volunteers for fire departments in small communities,” White said.

“But when this issue is recurring for years, it’s not good enough for the government to just say, ‘we don’t have volunteers.’

“We know that people care about their communities. So we have to question why people are not stepping up for these important roles. Are they structured in a way that makes sense to folks in the communities?” White asked.

“Are the schedules or requirements hindering people’s participation? There’s no easy answer, but the status quo is not an option as we’ve seen this weekend.”

On Nov. 17, White and Streicker had the following exchange in the legislature.

“If we are going to give people a piece of equipment like a fire truck, they actually have to be trained to use it,” Streicker said. “That is first and foremost — OK? We can’t give people equipment that they could get hurt with; that is just not possible for us.

“So, we did go to Keno. We said, ‘Look, we need volunteers. If we get volunteers, we can get you equipment.’

“We got a great group of folks signing up and then it didn’t stick,” Streicker added. “So, we followed up with them. The Fire Marshal’s Office reached out — our community advisor reached out, but it didn’t materialize.”

Gord Curran, the president of the Association of Yukon Communities, said Tuesday he was aware of the issue, but it hadn’t come to the association as a policy issue to this point.

The unincorporated communities such as Keno are associate members in the organization, he explained, and there simply has been no discussion of the status of their fire departments and emergency services.

The century-old Keno hotel was uninsured, and owner Leo Martel told the Star Monday he believes the fire was deliberately set.

See letter.