Too many youths set fires: Nunavut fire marshal

Nunavut suffered fewer fires in 2010 than in 2009, but the 2010 annual report of the Nunavut fire marshal shows the territory still racked up fire losses of about $4 million.

As in 2009, the most common cause of fires was “misuse of source of ignition,” which caused more than half of the 123 fires, said the report, tabled March 10 in the Nunavut legislature.

Most of the fires took place in housing units.

And youth, playing with matches and lighting fires, were responsible “in large part” for many fires, the report said.

“Communities must address this issue as a whole in order to reduce the fire losses associated with juvenile fire setting,” the report said.

Mechanical or electrical malfunctions and human error caused about 40 per cent of fires.

In 2010, there were no fatalities due to fire, but eight individuals, including two firefighters were injured, the report said.

The Baffin region topped Nunavut for the number of fires, with 71 out of the 123.

Ten of these occurred in Iqaluit. Cape Dorset, with a much smaller population, came in second with nine fires. There were no fires at all in Pangnirtung during 2010.

There were 33 fires in the Kivalliq region and 19 in the Kitikmeot region.

In the Kivalliq, Rankin Inlet saw 14 fires, but Arviat, where there were six fires, suffered the greatest financial losses — $289,500. There were no fires at all reported in Repulse Bay.

Fires in Kugluktuk fires caused $1.3 million in losses, accounting for nearly all fire losses in the Kitikmeot region last year.

A new Nunavut Fire Protection Strategy is now being developed with a focus on fire prevention and public education, the report said.

“The loss of community infrastructure, dollar significance and most of all fatalities are substantial enough for Nunavummiut to strive towards elimination of all types of fires,” the report said.