Yellowknife company helps Behchoko elder with faulty furnace
A Yellowknife electrical company has decided to help out a Behchokǫ̀ elder with a dying furnace — free of charge.
Doreen Wedzin-Brazeau, the co-owner of Polar Ice Mechanical, heard elder Adele Camile's story on CBC and decided to take action.
Camile, 82, had a dying furnace and was pleading for a professional electrician to take a look at it — before her house burned down.
Wedzin-Brazeau said a technician was already headed to Behchokǫ̀ Thursday morning to do other repairs in the community. She rescheduled her four other clients to make sure there was enough time to do Camile's repair.
"She's an elder and she has no money," Wedzin-Brazeau told CBC. "There is no one who is certified in her community to help repair her furnace."
Patrick Bedingfield was that technician. He crawled underneath Camile's house to inspect the furnace. When Bedingfield took it apart, he found a dead ignition, the motor pump was almost completely stripped away, and the nozzle needed to be replaced.
He explained the situation to Camile, who understands limited English, and some of her relatives who came to the house once they found out a mechanic was coming.
"[Camile] wasn't going to immediately get heat back without the repair," Bedingfield said. "It was a very necessary repair."
Bedingfield said fuel could have flooded the furnace and caused a fire, which could have burnt her house down. At best, without the repair, Camile would be without heat indefinitely.
Bedingfield said Camile was thrilled when she found out that the company was not going to charge her for the repair.
"She was all smiles, she was obviously very happy," Bedingfield said.
CBC was not able to immediately reach Camile or her family to get their reaction.
This isn't the first time that Wedzin-Brazeau said she's waved repair fees for elders. There have been a handful of cases in Yellowknife where the company has said repairs are on the house.
"I don't ask who is going to pay for the job," Wedzin-Brazeau said. "We just get the job done."
