Yukon fire marshal upholds evictions from Jamieson's Building in Whitehorse

Yukon's fire marshal has upheld the eviction of residents from the Jamieson'sbuilding in downtown Whitehorse, after confirming a number of fire code violations.

The building's owner appealed to the fire marshal after the city of Whitehorse'sfire chiefissued the eviction orders last month. Fire chief Kevin Lyslo cited"numerous fire and life safety violations" at the building.

The fire marshal's office conducted two moreinspections of the building late last month, in response to the appeal.

It found a series of safety deficiencies in the building, including:

• no fire alarm system to alert the fire department to an emergency;
• no fire escape plans posted;
• apartment windows that are inadequate as secondary means of escape;
• inadequate fire separations to contain heat and smoke

"There shall be no residential occupancy within this building," the fire marshal's report concludes. The order could be rescinded only if the building is upgraded to meet all fire and safety requirements.

The owner, a numbered company, has seven days to appeal to the Supreme Court of Yukon.

The fire marshal's report says there are 14 separate suites or apartments on the building's second floor, but it does not specifyhow many people were living in the building.

The ground floor of the building is occupied by a pawn shop and a craft shop. They are unaffected by the eviction orders.