Firefighter training needed, Joamie report says

Nunavut’s fire marshall, Gerald Pickett, is recommending more and better training for Nunavut firefighters in his investigation report into a fire that totally destroyed Iqaluit’s Joamie School on July 4, 2003.

“Based on interviews and observation of the incident, it is evident that limited knowledge, training and experience of standard fire ground operations precluded the establishment of an effective fire ground command,” Pickett said in his report.

He also said an evaluation of hamlet fire departments in Nunavut found that “all community fire departments failed to meet the minimum requirements of the National Fire Protection Association (industry standards) or the National Building and Fire Codes.”

He noted though, that the Nunavut government is already accelerating its firefighter training programs and has developed a fire prevention strategy through the Namix municipal insurance exchange.

Pickett confirmed that the Joamie fire was not caused by arson. He said the most likely cause was a malfuntioning heat trace system for a utilidor line located near a crawlspace under the building.