Co-op, volunteers work to restore food stability after Whale Cove fire

In the days since a fire gutted Whale Cove’s only grocery store, the community and the store’s managers and staff worked to ensure people there won’t have to go without food.

Food and supplies have been flown in throughout the Labour Day holiday weekend following the fire early Friday at Issatik Co-op, said Duane Wilson, vice-president of stakeholder relations for Arctic Co-operatives Ltd.

“We’re working basically all hands on deck to minimize the … disruption in service in the community,” Wilson said in an interview Tuesday.

Social media posts showed Canadian Rangers working with community members packaging and arranging hampers of food that had been brought in by boat and plane to the community of about 500 residents on the west coast of Hudson Bay.

One food hamper was provided to each family, Wilson said.

On Friday, the hamlet declared a local state of emergency shortly after the early morning fire burned down the Issatik Co-op and its grocery store.

At this point, the cause of the fire is not known. The Whale Cove fire department is investigating.

Arctic Co-ops, the local co-op and volunteers are working quickly to build a temporary store in the community hall, Wilson said.

Point-of-sale machines are in place and shelving and fridges are in transit, he said. Calm Air, the organization’s air cargo supplier, is flying in what is needed to build the temporary grocery store.

In the interim, the Co-op is working to provide a second food hamper for community members as staff get the temporary store up and running, Wilson said.

He said that from a food perspective, there will be no shortage to the community.

The difficulty lies in setting up a point of distribution.

“We’re meeting twice a day on this at this point.” he said, adding he didn’t know whether he could say “definitively” when the temporary store will be ready.

“[We are working to] minimize the amount of time because we understand how important a functioning grocery store is in the whole existence of a community and community food security.”

Wilson suggested there may be a need for multiple rounds of food hampers to be provided to the community.

The arrival date of the third and final sealift of the season, which was set before Friday’s fire, is Oct. 10.

Wilson said the Co-op is working closely with Nunavut Sealink and Supply Inc. to replace as much possible of what was lost in the fire through the sealift.

“We’ve already reached out to the organization to offer emergency sealift at the end of the season, if needed,” David Rivest, president and general manager of transarctic operations for Desagnés, said Tuesday.

Desagnés is Nunavut Sealink and Supply’s parent company.

The company also has vessels in Rankin Inlet which can provide support if needed, he said.

Arctic Co-Op is scrambling to gather inventory and assess logistics in getting supplies to Whale Cove, Rivest said.

Once that is determined, the two organizations will work together to get supplies to the area in time for the final sealift of the season, Rivest said.

“We will be assisting as much as we can during the shipping season, to be able to bring in any materials required for the community and what’s needed, especially for the winter period,” he said.

Most perishable and non-freezable products were lost in the fire, Wilson said.

While a number of sea cans with items like toilet paper, flour, sugar and other products that don’t freeze were located at a different site, the majority of the store’s food was lost in the fire.

The Co-op has other storage facilities in the community and is working to create a “patchwork” of storage facilities to make up for the storage capacity that was lost in the fire.

“The temporary store is going to be smaller than the full store,” Wilson said.

He said it’s too early to discuss a new permanent store to replace the old one. However, “we hope to build back stronger,” Wilson said.