Fire prevention campaign launches in Nunavik

Across Nunavik last year, there were 61 reported fires, resulting in $4.3 million in damages.

This is an improvement over the past few years—2016 saw 105 fires, and 72 fires in 2017, according to recent fire statistics.

While the situation is improving, fires remain a major problem for a region already short on housing, says Laura Lapointe, program manager for Pivallianiq, which works toward better living conditions for Nunavimmiut, under the Kativik Municipal Housing Bureau.

The housing board has partnered with the Kativik Regional Government to launch a fire prevention campaign, kicking off on Oct. 22 for Fire Prevention Month.

“We have more fires up here than down south and the buildings are probably double or triple the costs of buildings down south,” said Daniel Lambert, the fire prevention technician for the KRG who is working with Lapointe on the Home Fire Safety campaign.

It involves a suite of information aimed at bringing down the rate of fires across Nunavik.

“We’re going to have six short videos on social media and radio clips broadcast throughout the year in each of the 14 communities of Nunavik,” said Lapointe.

“We really want to make fire prevention a priority this year … we’re merging our fire prevention goals together to really make this an active offensive and make Nunavimmiut aware of the high risks of the most common causes of fire.”

The videos cover six themes: cigarette-caused fires, playing with matches and lighters, the proper use of mechanical rooms in shacks and houses, household evacuation plans, fire prevention inside the home, and general fire prevention.

“In every video there is a message that speaks about what is good for you, what’s good for your community,” said Lapointe.

“The objective is to make people aware that their risk of a fire is real, so we want to make sure every member of the family is aware of this and attentive to this.”

Statistics show the number of fires in Nunavik peak between June and September. The majority are started in shacks or storage buildings.

In 2018, Inukjuak had the most reported fires, at 15, followed by Kuujjuaq with eight and Puvirnituq with seven.

Lambert says 30 per cent of these fires are started by children with matches in shacks.

There appears to have been a payoff for the efforts of Pivallianiq and the KRG to encourage fire safety education, as the number of fires in recent years has been going down.

“But one fire is always too many,” said Lapointe. “Through the Pivallianiq program we are working more on prevention. We really want tenants to take good care of their homes and fire prevention is a major component of this.”