Emergency crews fight house fire in Iqaluit
City asks people to give emergency responders room to work
A fire truck is parked in front of a residence in Iqaluit while a crew works to fight a fire that was reported just before noon on Tuesday. (Photo by David Lochead)
Fire crews fought a blaze at a residence in Iqaluit on Tuesday.
The fire, at building 147A on Nipisa Street in Lower Iqaluit, was still burning about two hours after it was reported at 11:30 a.m.
Smoke billowed from the windows of the building and there were noticeable signs of fire damage in front.
By early afternoon there were two fire trucks with about 10 or more firefighters still on the scene. Paramedics, RCMP, bylaw officers and workers from Qulliq Energy Corp. were there as well.
Fire crews were also seen entering 147B, which is the other unit in the house.
City water trucks also responded to the fire, according to City of Iqaluit spokesperson Kent Driscoll in a news release. He asked that residents give those trucks space on the road.
There also could be disruptions to trucked water services, he said.
“City asks people to give emergency responders room to work”
Honestly this should be common sense and it is clearly not. Anytime there’s a fire you will see half the community drop whatever they’re doing, jump on their skidoo or Honda, and try and go get pictures at the scene of the fire. This is stupid. Blocking emergency vehicles and preventing them from doing their jobs can mean life or death. Need to start charging these idiots with obstruction.
Chasing emergency vehicles to a scene is actually a pastime here in Iqaluit. All so they can be the first to post on facebook.
That is why the RCMP are there and established up a perimeter. They will make sure people do not obstruct with the fire departments efforts to extinguish the fire.
Ambulance, fire truck, law enforcement, or any emergency response vehicle with lights and sirens on vehicles and people need to move out of their way and allow them pass. If you have to commit a traffic infraction to get out of their way you will not be ticketed, you can be ticketed for not getting out of their way which may land you in jail.
I watched a blue truck with a young driver keep right on driving by very confused as to why everyone else was moving out of the way and off the road – they didn’t even move after the emergency vehicles where right behind them honking at them, they didn’t understand to get off the road when those sirens are happening. They literally held up the vehicles to that fire for a whole block and half in front of Northmart. At that point, By-law should be there to revoke peoples licenses. Speaking of Northmart, starting towing vehicles parking in the fire lane. Pathetic humans are so entitled.