Iqaluit EMTs outraged after weekend rip-off

A security camera caught a young man walking off with a missing backpack from the Iqaluit fire station in the early hours of May 16, in this image posted to social media over the past weekend.

If you’re an emergency medical technician, you don’t think twice to stop what you’re doing if someone’s life is in danger.

But if you’re an EMT in Iqaluit, you also need to check that your possessions are locked up tight before you rush out to respond.

On May 16, at about 2:30 a.m., while crews had left the fire station to respond to a medical emergency, security cameras caught a young man inside the empty fire hall stealing a backpack belonging to an Iqaluit EMT.

“Came into the fire hall while I was out on a call in the ambulance. I’m totally pissed! Not only did you steal but you trespassed into our fire house! You should be ashamed of yourself,” said an EMT in a May 16 posting on the Iqaluit Public Service Facebook page, which has since been removed.

According to information posted on Facebook and Twitter this past weekend, after taking the backpack, the young man is then alleged to have snuck out through the open bay of the fire station, soon after the ambulance had left.

The young man appears to be in his 20s, 5’10” to 6′ tall, wearing a hoodie, black jacket, blue jeans and sneakers.

The lime-green backpack that went missing was later recovered but without its contents, which included an iPad, wallet, keys, an airside airport ID card, black hat and black gloves.

Members of Iqaluit’s Department of Emergency and Protective Services took to social media over the weekend to try to locate the young man, whose identity they appeared to have learned, following the release of an image from the security camera.

“Would like to know what he thinks of our Fire Department and where the belongings he took are… Shame on you, P.!” in a posting now removed from the QPS page.

Iqaluit fire chief Luc Grandmaison said the incident is being investigated by the RCMP and that he cannot comment to Nunatsiaq News about the continuing investigation.

Grandmaison said his department will examine the incident over the coming days or weeks.

He said in his three years living and working in Iqaluit, this was the first such incident.

“Hope it does not happen again,” he said in an email.

But break-ins and thefts around the city’s downtown are not uncommon.

Police say those responsible have often used disguises to hide their identities from security cameras.

The RCMP have asked Iqaluit residents to keep their eyes open for suspicious behaviour and to alert police to any possible break-ins by calling 979-0123.