Blaze levels CIBC bank in Kuujjuaq

Firefighters were called to the Kuujjuaq branch of the CIBC at 4:00 a.m. March 6 to put out a fire that ended up levelling the community’s only full-service bank. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

By 10:30 a.m. March 6 little remained of Kuujjuaq’s sole full-service bank. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

(updated March 8,10:20 a.m.)

The odds “were stacked against us,” says a Kuujjuaq firefighter who helped douse a fire that ripped through the local branch of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce during the early hours of March 6.

Firefighters were called to the blaze at about 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning, when temperatures had plunged to -48 C with the wind chill.

“When we got out there, the fire was already quite advanced,” said Dave Forrest, a volunteer firefighter, who added that water kept freezing in the fire department’s hoses due to the extremely cold temperatures.

The fire, which appears to have originated in the building’s furnace room, tore through to the ceiling, which made the fire difficult to extinguish, Forrest said.

“There was a lot of smoke and we couldn’t really get at it because of the [building’s] false ceiling,” Forrest said March 7. “All of the odds were stacked against us.”

By 8:00 a.m., the flames had gutted the Airport Rd. building— Kuujjuaq’s only full-service bank— and the structure was knocked down, Forrest said.

But firefighters were able to keep the fire under control, preventing it from affecting surrounding homes and structures, he said.

Firefighters were still watering the wreckage March 7.

No one was injured in the blaze.

Although there is a Nunavik Financial Services counter located in Kuujjuaq, the CIBC branch is the community’s only full-service bank.

“Our immediate priority is addressing the day to day banking needs of our clients in the area,” said Geoff Dillon from CIBC’s corporate communications on March 8. “We want to assure clients that we are working as quickly as possible to establish short term measures to assist them with their day to day banking and will provide more information as soon as we can.”

Clients can use their CIBC debit cards to pay for necessities at local stores where Interac is accepted and bank by phone by calling 1-800-465-2422.

“We recognize that clients who would normally visit our branch may need to use a non-CIBC bank machine to withdraw money for day to day purchases. On an interim basis, should a client encounter a service fee for using one of these bank machines in the course of their usual everyday banking they can contact us to request a reimbursement of these service fees,” Dillon said.

Police say they are continuing to investigate the incident.

“No foul play is suspected,” Julie Grenier, spokesperson for the Kativik Regional Police Force, said March 8.