Fire damage shuts school for at least six months

Students placed in other classrooms in communityIf you walked down the charred corridors of Kuujjuaraapik’s Asimautaq School today, it would be hard to imagine that less than a month ago the school was filled with students eagerly awaiting their Christmas holiday break.

A fire, which broke out in the early morning hours of Dec. 17, caused extensive damage to the $5-million school.

In the section housing the elementary levels, ceilings are caved in and soot covers all the surfaces.

One wall of the gymnasium burned completely, and, according to police, heat from the flames was so intense during the fire that the metal beams supporting the wall buckled.

“The school will be closed for at least six months,” said Brian Jones, chief of the Kativik Regional Police Force.

Jones said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, although arson is suspected.

“After we did our work at the scene, a major crimes unit from the Sûreté du Québec provincial police force came and established it was a criminal file.”

The Kativik School Board will be obliged to place the 150 students who attended Asimautaq School in other classrooms around the community.

Fortunately, Kuujjuaraapik has more unoccupied building space than any other community in Nunavik, due to the presence of former military buildings from the 1950s, which are similar to those that were built in then-Frobisher Bay and Resolute during the same period.