Fire at 51A Avenue kills Yellowknifer with ALS

Andrew Debogorski passed away in a house fire on 5216 51A Avenue tonight in Yellowknife. His two children and wife are safe.

His father, Alex Debogorski posted on facebook that his son had died in the fire.

“I’m asking all of my friends and fans for prayer. My son Andrew who has ALS has passed away when his house caught fire. His wife and two children are safe. I do not know any more than this at this time but I would ask for prayer for his family and for my own family. Thank you.”

At 8:38 PM on Friday the YKFD received a report of a basement fire with a man trapped inside. A full group response was initiated immediately, calling in off-duty personnel and paid on-call firefighters.

On arrival heavy smoke was coming out of the front and side doors of the residence.

The rescue team was deployed and located the individual. Efforts to resuscitate him were commenced immediately while taking him to hospital. Unfortunately, the patient succumbed to his injuries.

Northland Utilities was called in to shut off the power to the home. Fire crews continued to fight the fire until 3:57 AM. Municipal Enforcement Division assisted with traffic control throughout the incident.

A fire watch was completed at 6:05 A.M. and at 8:09 AM; the thermal imaging camera noted no hotspots.

The scene was turned over to RCMP. The Fire Marshal’s office was contacted to conduct the investigation into cause and origin.

Keven Dow
Keven Dow
News. Keven moved here from Ontario in November of 2018. As of December Keven is back to doing full-time news after transitioning into a news/mid-days position in late 2019. Prior to that, he was doing weekends/news for about 8-9 months. He's from a small tomato town in Ontario and went to College at Fanshawe for Radio Broadcasting. He loves talking about sports, entertainment, the community, and local events. Got a news tip? Email me at [email protected]

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