Photo: Digging and spraying: Iqaluit tackles its dump fire

Excavators eat away at Iqaluit’s three-month-old dump fire, Sept. 1, backed by a continuous spray of stream-fed water to cool the superheated garbage heap and keep soot from the rising into the air. An industrial firefighting team, assembled by the City of Iqaluit, launched their assault on the pile the day before, Aug. 31 at 1:30 p.m., when heavy equipment operators started digging away at the north end of 10-metre-high heap. “It’s been going extremely well,” site manager Mike Noblett of Global Forensics said at the close of day one. “It’s a huge undertaking. Our job is to make sure we do it as quickly and safely as possible.” (PHOTO BY PETER VARGA)