Yellowknife city councillor's home destroyed by fire Friday morning

A house on Forrest Park in Yellowknife that caught fire early Friday morning belonged to Yellowknife city councillor Stacie Smith.

Neighbours say they were woken at 1:30 a.m. by pounding at their door.

They were asked by the fire department to wait outside their homes until 3:00 a.m., in case the fire spread to other homes.

A family member told CBC News that there was no one in the house at the time, but that the family's belongings were destroyed and the family dog was lost in the fire.

In an email to CBC News, Smith wrote that she was fine but "rattled, and very upset about the loss of my dog."

A friend of Smith's, Karen Murray, set up a Go Fund Me Page, to help the family with the immediate costs of accommodation and rebuilding.

"When I found out the news today ... there's no words, there's no words," said Murray. "And so I just wanted to assist in any way that I could."

Smith was elected to city council in 2018. She was acclaimed deputy mayor at a council meeting Monday.