Photo: Firefighters put out fire on roof of new Iqaluit air terminal

Smoke billows from a fire that broke out in the early evening of Sept. 5 at Iqaluit’s partially constructed new airport terminal behind the Ukkivik building. Firefighters extinguished the blaze just after 8 p.m. Police and bylaw officers set up a road block on the section of Federal Rd. between the Baffin Correctional Centre and the Ungallipaat St. baseball diamond, while numerous Iqaluit residents gazed at the scene from a ridge at the edge of the Plateau subdivision. It’s not known what caused the fire and it’s not yet clear to what extent this will delay completion of the project. The airport terminal is one component of a massive overhaul of the Iqaluit airport that’s expected to cost $418.9 million after 34 years. That includes the cost of building a new terminal, a new combined services building to house equipment, new runway lighting, massive runway repaving and long-term financing costs. That includes the “present-day” cost of construction, estimated at $298.5 million, and payments the Government of Nunavut will make to the private consortium that will build and run the facility for the next three decades. (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)