Adverse weather conditions added to the challenge Iqaluit firefighters faced while fighting the raging Noble House apartment building fire on Mivvik Street that ultimately left 36 tenants and their families homeless, said Fire Chief Steve McGean.
Nineteen firefighters — full-time staff and volunteers — answered the call around dinner time on Jan. 8 and worked for hours trying to extinguish the massive blaze, McGean said.
“What really hampered us was the wind and weather conditions that evening, you know, with the wind gusting to almost 60 kilometres an hour, and with a windchill of almost like -35 C, -40 C,” McGean said.
“Firefighters that were on hoses or on the exterior of the building, working the fire trucks, we had to swap them out regularly to make sure that everybody was staying warm and that nobody was trying to overdo it and come down with any hypothermia or frostbite issues,” he said of the daunting task.
McGean said no residents of the apartment building needed rescue from within the structure.
“In the first half of the building where the fire originated, we cleared those rooms immediately, so there was nobody from the Delta, Echo or Foxtrot apartments in there. And we finished clearing the rest of the building shortly thereafter,” he said, adding that smoke conditions were progressing.
Some residents who tried to go back inside the building to retrieve some of their belongings had to be escorted out by firefighters, he added.
Fighting the flames
The flames were embedded in the walls and ceiling, making the blaze difficult to extinguish, according to the fire chief.
“It was almost like trying to find a needle in a haystack, along with the smoke and the heat conditions,” he said of the fire scene.
“And then it intensified probably roughly around 8:30 or 9 p.m., so two-and-a-half, almost three hours into it, is when the flames finally burst through the back wall.
“And that's when we had the fight on our hands,” McGean recounted.
Eventually, the flames were contained as the structure collapsed and no longer posed a danger to nearby buildings, he said.
The large, 37-unit apartment building was located near the end of the airport runway towards the bay side.
Firefighters later returned to the rubble with the backhoe and to ensure all the hot spots were extinguished so no materials could reignite.
“By the end of this week, they will be able to start moving the material and get it shuttled to the metal dump here in Iqaluit,” he said on Jan. 20.
The entire scene is roped off and McGean said the area is now in control of the key-holder of the building — Northview.
“We did an investigation in coordination with the RCMP, and then under the Fire Marshal's Office. We're saying that it's still under investigation and undetermined at this time,” McGean said of the cause.
Significant risk
McGean said there is always risk when encountering such a scene.
“We’ve had quite a few big fires over the years that I’ve been here,” he said of his 3.5 years in Iqaluit, noting that a dental clinic building under construction and the former Nunatsiaq News building both were demolished by flames.
“Our job is risk, but risk mitigation is my job to ensure that we are watching the smoke conditions and then getting reports back from the crew that we're making sound and safe choices for any community members that might be stuck in a building, and also to ensure the safety of my firefighters.
“That's first and foremost in the front of my mind: my firefighters’ safety and the residents’ safety.”
