Police detain Iqaluit resident following suspicious fire

This residential shack, once occupied by well-known Iqaluit resident Joe Teemotee, was transformed into a gutted ruin by a fire that broke out early in the afternoon of April 17. All of its contents appear to be destroyed. Police have detained somebody in connection with the incident, which they describe as suspicious, but they haven’t identified the detained person or announced the laying of any charges. (PHOTO BY JIM BELL)

(Updated 10:15 a.m., April 19)

The Iqaluit RCMP have taken a “person from Iqaluit” into custody for questioning following what they call a suspicious fire at a residential shack behind building 224, police said April 18.

Police did not say if the detained person is a man or a woman or what charges, if any, the person may face.

Also known as the Arnakallak Building, building 224, located near the beach adjacent to the elders’ centre, is the former home of the Iqaluit courthouse.

Police said Iqaluit firefighters extinguished the fire after responding to the blaze at about 2:15 p.m. April 18.

The shack, built in 2011, was usually occupied by Joe Teemotee, a well-known Iqaluit resident who has frequently complained to visiting politicians about homelessness.

It is the second such structure that Teemotee was allowed to erect on that spot.

For many years, Teemotee and other family members lived at an earlier shack that he had built in the 1990s. That structure was destroyed by fire on April 14, 2011 and was replaced after a fundraising effort.

The RCMP said they and the Nunavut fire marshall’s office are still investigating.