Iqaluit man left with nothing after fire destroys his home
Building 157 in Iqaluit, whose other tenants included Nunatsiaq News, burned to the ground Tuesday
Markosie Aningmiuq says he lost his home and all his possessions in a fire that destroyed Building 157 in Iqaluit on Tuesday. He is living in a hotel room for the next two weeks and will need a permanent home afterward. (Photo by David Lochead)
Markosie Aningmiuq was at the hospital for a medical appointment when it happened. “Unbeknownst to me,” he said Thursday, “[my] building is on fire.”
Aningmiuq lived alone in Iqaluit in an apartment on the second floor of the two-storey Building 157, which was destroyed in a fire Tuesday.
There was one other residential unit in the building, which also housed businesses including Nunatsiaq News, Ayaya Marketing and Communications, as well as Government of Nunavut workers.
By the time Aningmiuq got home from the hospital at about 9 a.m., it was a small fire. But even then, he said, firefighters told him they were unsure if they would be able to contain it.
The City of Iqaluit reported the fire was extinguished around 4 p.m. By early evening, only a pile of rubble remained.
As of Thursday, authorities haven’t said how the fire started or released an estimate of the total losses caused by the fire.
Aningmiuq said that when the fire reached his apartment at the back of the building, he realized he would lose all his possessions and he would be homeless.
“That really hit me hard,” he said. “And there’s nothing I can do about it or [anyone else] can do about it.”
Among his losses, he thought of the pocket knives his stepfather gave him 30 years ago. He’d use them to cut up food products or country food, and it would bring back memories.
After the fire, his employer gave him two weeks off work to deal with the aftermath of losing his apartment.
As well, his landlord put him up in a hotel room for two weeks. Aningmiuq said the landlord will do his best to find him an available room to rent, but if there’s none available he will have to find his own place to live.
“There’s a housing crisis throughout the North,” Aningmiuq said, and there are no units available.
Left with only the clothes he was wearing, he took to Facebook, asking Iqalummiut for clothing. Since then, he has received piles of pants, shirts and other accessories.
“I’m very grateful, I was overwhelmed,” Aningmiuq said of the donations.
“This is a start,” he added. “Getting clothing is what mattered to me most.”
Aningmiuq said he still has to look for items that require specific sizes, such as shoes and boots, plus a jacket. He said he will miss the extra foam on his bed that helped with his sore back.
He hopes he can find a new place to live in the next two weeks. He said he does have a family member living in the city.
If Aningmiuq had been home when the fire occurred, he might have been able to grab possessions like his computer and some clothes. But those items are replaceable, he said.
“I’m just glad no one was in the building [when the fire grew] and that nobody was hurt,” he said.
“These things happen.”
After Aningmiuq spoke with Nunatsiaq News, Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. vice-president Duane Wilson told the paper in an email the Co-op has committed a $1,000 account that Aningmiuq can use to make purchases there.
All renters need to heed this warning, please make sure you get tenant’s insurance. In the case of a fire, tenant’s insurance will provide you with months of hotel stay, usually at least 3 but often more depending on your policy, and will provide you with money to purchase new clothing and other possessions lost in the fire.
Is this still a policy? It’s difficult to get home or tenants insurance that is covered due to the issues of fires, flooding etc that was frequent here. To the point condo associations in town had to fight to get insurance for their homes.