Iqaluit apartment fire where 2 pets died not considered suspicious: RCMP
No people injured in fire that severely damaged two vehicles and two apartment units last Saturday
No people were hurt in a fire that consumed part of an apartment building in Iqaluit last Saturday, say RCMP. (File photo by Arty Sarkisian)
A fire that badly damaged two Iqaluit apartment units last weekend has been deemed non-suspicious, though the investigation is continuing.
Two end units in the eight-unit building and two vehicles were burned but no people were injured in the fire that was discovered around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, said RCMP Supt. Kent Pike on Wednesday.
Firefighters had the fire mostly under control by 9 p.m. but continued working at the scene that night.
While the cause is yet to be determined, Pike said there are no indications that it is suspicious. He said the report from the Nunavut Fire Marshal’s Office will likely take a week to complete.
While no people were injured, resident Chris Gerlach said his two cats were lost in the fire.
He said he and his wife were out of town when they received a call from their house-sitter on the night of the fire. The house-sitter had been in the shower, “when he got out of the shower and opened the bathroom door, he says the house was already completely full of smoke,” Gerlach said Wednesday.
Through thick smoke, the sitter ran out of the apartment while calling for the family dog, Tobi, and the two cats, Charlie and Olivia, to follow. While the dog got out the door, the cats remained inside.
“They would have likely been hiding, or considering how fast the house filled up with smoke and how small their lungs are they may have already passed by then,” Gerlach said.
A neighbour told firefighters the cats were in the home, “but they were too busy putting out the fire to try and rescue them,” he said.
Gerlach said neighbours have been very supportive.
Thus far, he and his wife have been unable to return to their home as building owner Northview REIT has “deemed it too risky until a structural engineer can assess it,” Gerlach said.
“They have, however, mentioned that due to the apparent damage they don’t believe anything will be salvageable.”
Dominik Gagne, a spokesperson for the City of Iqaluit, declined comment on the fire on Tuesday.
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