Fires in Nunavut destroyed $53M worth of property in 2011: report

The charred ruins of building 4100 in Iqaluit on the morning of March 24, 2011. The 29-unit apartment building was destroyed by a fire that left 60 people homeless. No one was injured. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

The number of fires in Nunavut reached a five-year high in 2011, and the Office of the Fire Marshal is blaming a large part of it on juvenile fire-setters.

A total of 150 fires were recorded in the Nunavut fire marshal’s annual report, 44 per cent of which were caused by “incendiary and misuse of source of ignition fires” which “is due, in a large part to the problem of juvenile fire-setting in Nunavut communities,” 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.

The cost of property destroyed or damaged by fire in 2011 comes to just over $53 million — more than 13 times the cost of damages in 2010, and more than the previous four years combined.

Just under half of the total damages, $24.6 million, were attributed to fires in Iqaluit.

The largest Iqaluit fire in 2011 was the blaze at building 4100 on March 24, where 29 apartments burned down.

Residential buildings were the most likely to be set alight, with 70 residential fires in 2011.

Mechanical, electrical failure or malfunction contributed to 37 fires last year, while human failing was blamed on 35 of the 150 fires.

No people were killed in any fires last year, but fires caused 14 injuries.

However, the fire marshal’s report does not include the devastating Feb. 27, 2012 fire that ravaged the 300 block of Creekside Village.

Although the statistics look daunting, Iqaluit deputy fire chief Blaine Wiggins said the outlook isn’t as bad as it seems. He said that better reporting led to the production of a higher damage cost estimate.

If reporting was as stringent in previous years as it was for 2011, the statistics would be fairly consistent, he said.

“What I think we would actually see is a downward trend,” said Wiggins. “I think we’re seeing a downward trend, but with better reporting it seems like it’s an upward trend.”

Arsonists are being caught in Iqaluit: two minors were identified as risks in the community when they were caught red handed at the Qamutik building last summer.

“Last year we worked with the OFM and the RCMP on some very high risk issues. We have identified some young individuals that have been habitually setting fires,” Wiggins said.

Juveniles set fires for fun, and usually target crates at construction sites. So, prevention and awareness is the best way to stop these sorts of fires, he said.

“We want the parents to take a much more proactive role in knowing where their kids are, what they’re doing, educating their kids on the impact of playing with fire,” said Wiggins. “One of the things we’re working on is going into the schools before the end of the school year and get the message into them that any small fire can turn into a very large fire.”

Thirty-six per cent of all fires were started in July last year, more than in any other month.

“We want to get it fresh in their minds that this is a real cost and that this is arson, and that’s the way we will treat it.”

In the report, Lorne Kusugak, the minister responsible for the Office of the Fire Marshal, said local fire departments play a large role in raising awareness about fire prevention in Nunavut. A new prevention strategy is in the works, he said.

“These losses place a burden on government and communities, and in most cases are preventable,” said Kusugak in the report.

“In the coming year the OFM will be releasing a renewed fire prevention strategy. This strategy will include a grant program for hamlets with set criteria for funding applications, increased funding for training and an annual preventative maintenance program for vehicles and equipments.”

Wiggins said his department “needs more resources to address fire prevention” and while the OFM provides a lot of education material, “what we need is bodies. We’ve got to run with what our budget’s allow the city.”