Photo: City crews fight back “scrapcano” fire at Iqaluit dump

With waves of heat clearly visible in the upper half of this photo, city crews operating a barely visible excavator work to pull apart and suppress a fire in the scrap metal and wood section of the dump that began burning June 20. At least three pieces of heavy machinery, two water trucks and two municipal trucks are on scene as firefighters attempt to douse the fire which appears perilously close to the tank farm. The City of Iqaluit issued a news release to say residents are in no danger, but the fire is only about 200 metres from the nearest fuel tank. Smoke is currently blowing away from the city and into Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park. The city advises that there will be no water delivery today and no commercial garbage pick-up today as city crews are assisting in firefighting efforts. Commercial garbage pick up will resume on the next scheduled day and water delivery is expected to resume tomorrow, June 22. (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)