'All I want to do is just go home': Fire destroys 6-plex in Edzo, N.W.T.

When Colby Rabesca opened the door to his home on Friday, he was enveloped in a shroud of smoke.

The 28-year-old lived in a residential complex in Edzo, N.W.T., that was destroyed by fire on Friday morning. The apartment he shared with his mother in the six-unit building was the first to catch fire.

N.W.T. RCMP said on Friday that two apartments in the complex had been damaged following the fire.

In a statement, RCMP said officers were notified the apartment had reignited later on Friday after it was initially contained.

The reignition caused the “total loss” of the complex, said the statement on Monday afternoon.

Early reports suggest the fire began from a heater under the building meant to thaw the waterlines, it said.

“At this time, no criminality is suspected,” it said.

While no people were injured, it said some firefighters reportedly suffered from smoke inhalation.

CBC has also attempted to reach the Behchokǫ̀ fire department.

Rabesca recalled how he had made the decision on Friday morning to go into the house to get the keys to his truck and snowmobile so they could be moved out, making way for fire trucks that were on their way.

“This is going to sound ridiculous. Really unsafe,” he said.

The keys were in his room, which was at the back of the house, he said. The place was blotted out by smoke but Rabesca said he felt his way through.

“My bedroom was at the opposite end of the building, so I had to go from the front all the way to the back and back to the front again.”

The apartment smelled of burning wood that “just hits your nose,” he said, recalling the odour.