Boiler caused Repulse Bay fire

Faulty boiler equipment caused a fire that destroyed Repulse Bay’s hamlet complex last week. The hamlet office and adjoining gymnasium were burned to the ground, said John Kaunak, the community’s mayor. All that remains are the metal stairways.

The boiler equipment had been faulty for about three years, Kaunak said in Inuktitut. It had been fixed several times but never really worked properly. The boiler room was connected to the gymnasium, but a standby generator blocked firefighters’ access to the faulty equipment. They made a hole in the wall to get hoses in, but firefighters could not reach the room, Kaunak said.

The hamlet office will be temporarily relocated to an old school, with additional space in a garage. The offices should be operational within the next few weeks. New computers have been ordered, “and once they arrive and NorthwesTel hooks us up, we should be operational,” he said.

As for recreation, the community has another gymnasium, which is the largest in the Kivalliq Region, so recreation will continue.

A new office will be built after supplies arrive next year by sealift. Construction is expected to be completed by 2004.