Sternwheeler fire an accident, officials say

Whitehorse firefighters say a fire at the SS Klondike Monday night started accidentally.

Fire Chief Clive Sparks says the small fire at the city landmark was probably started by crews doing repair work on the sternwheel of the boat earlier in the day.

"There was an employee using a grinder up on the back of the boat yesterday afternoon and we feel that it was a spark from that grinder that got lodged in the wood and started the fire," he says.

Sparks says the fire scorched a small area of the sternwheel on the boat before a passerby noticed the smoke. Firefighters were called out at about 10 p.m. to deal with the fire.

The damage won't be there for long. The affected part of the sternwheel was scheduled to be replaced as part of the boat's renovations. The national historic site is undergoing a $2-million restoration.

It's one of only two paddlewheelers still standing in the Yukon.