Iqaluit tupiq fire deemed arson, but police have yet to make arrests
Nanook School holding online fundraiser to rebuild
A fire that destroyed an Iqaluit tupiq is considered suspicious and remains under investigation, the RCMP said May 29. (Photo by Emma Tranter)
The fire that destroyed a tent used for outdoor education by Apex’s school appears to have been deliberately set, say Iqaluit RCMP.
But the RCMP have yet to make any arrests in connection with the early morning May 24 fire that destroyed the tupiq outside of Nanook School.
The fire is considered suspicious and remains under investigation, the RCMP said May 29.
Iqaluit firefighters were called to the tent fire at about 1:30 a.m. last Friday morning, but the 15-by-21-foot wood and canvas structure was a total loss.
The tupiq was built outside of Nanook School last year and served as a focal point for the school’s new land-based outdoor education program, called Nuna School.
School principal Mathew Knickelbein called the fire a “senseless act of vandalism.”
The school has now launched an online fundraiser in an effort to rebuild the structure.
“Our small school has a tiny budget and we spent as much as we could afford building and supplying this program,” Knickelbien said on the GoFundMe page set up earlier this week.
“We need help in replacing the structure and all the learning materials that went up in flames.”
A number of Iqaluit businesses and organizations have already pledged materials or cash donations to construct a new tupiq.
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