Most displaced tenants find housing after Noble House fire
Cause of the blaze remains undetermined, says spokesperson for the City of Iqaluit
Ruins of the three-storey Noble House complex on Mivvik Street in Iqaluit are seen here in a file photo. The building was destroyed in an overnight fire earlier this month. (File photo by Daron Letts)
Thirty-five of the 36 families who lost their homes in the Jan. 8 Noble House fire in Iqaluit are now living in Nunavut Housing Corp. staff housing units.
One tenant is still staying at a hotel but the plan is to find a permanent solution by the end of January, said Alexandria Webb, senior communications officer for the housing corporation, in an email to Nunatsiaq News.

At least 36 families or individuals were left homeless and several professional offices were lost in a fire Jan. 8 that destroyed Noble House in Iqaluit. (Photo by Daron Letts)
The housing corporation is using units that were previously reserved for future hires, which means hiring of new staff who would require housing has been paused until more units become available.
The fire at 1088 Mivvik St., commonly known as the Noble House, was reported at around 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 8.
Firefighters tried to battle the fire for several hours, but by 10:30 p.m. it consumed the entire building. By 1 a.m., the Noble House collapsed.
The fire destroyed the three-storey building that included 37 residential units, including one that was vacant, and several businesses and offices, including MAC African Market, engineering firm Stantec, Nunavut Marketing and the constituency office of Nunavut MP Lori Idlout.
All residents were evacuated and no injuries were reported.
The Department of Community and Government Services is responsible for the Nunavut Fire Marshal’s Office.
Department spokesperson Greg Belanger didn’t provide any more details on the investigation Tuesday, citing the Iqaluit Fire Department as the “lead investigator.”
City of Iqaluit spokesperson Geoffrey Byrne said he has no information on whether the fire is considered suspicious.
“The cause of the fire remains undetermined and there are no plans for a review of the fire response,” he said in an emailed update to Nunatsiaq News.
RCMP didn’t provide any additional information in response to a request from Nunatsiaq News.
For days after the fire, city staff and Iqaluit residents worked to help those displaced. Hundreds of bags and boxes of donations from people poured into drop-off centres across the city, where volunteers sorted and distributed the items.
A GoFundMe account posted by Iqaluit resident Alena Stevenson had collected more than $35,000 as of Wednesday morning. All money from this fund will be evenly split between affected residents and go toward “immediate needs,” the GoFundMe page said.
The city also started its own fundraiser the day after the fire, with close to $12,000 raised so far.
Several smaller fundraising events were also held across the community in the weeks following the fire.
Luckily everyone had tenants insurance since NHC mandates it.
Why isn’t that easy to solve homelessness in Iqaluit?
huvago
Comparing apples to oranges. These tenants had insurance and they are respectful to their neighbours and their unit and pay a sizeable amount in rent. They lost everything except the clothes on their backs. Homelessness is a separate issue that needs to be tackled using a different lens.
867; you mean local homeless are, how do you say it? expendables, and others to be wooed??? It figures….
Make sure you believe them the next time they say, “there’s no available units in Iqaluit”.
Iqaluit should not be building residential properties with more than 40 residential units because of this fire. The City fire department has proven time and time again they cannot contain or stop fires of this size. Yes they are professionals, yes they have the best training and equipment it is just a fact.
The number of fire fighters and equipment they have access to is very limited. It is not like in the south where they have multiple fire houses in one city, and agreements in place with other fire departments and jurisdictions that come come to their aid when they request it.
GREAT JOB FIRE DEPARTMENT, no loss of life, and damage was reduced to just the one building,
Imagine a 100 unit residential building being lost over night, can the city be able to manage that many people who are displaced and need of accommodation and other resources? 3 times as many people as this fire.
The city and volunteers did an amazing job for the 36 families that got displaced with the resources available. GREAT JOB. Without the volunteers and donations this would have become a disaster.
City Planning department really needs to set a maximum number of residential units of no more than 40 units per building to help plan and prepare for events like this in the future. No matter what we do fires still happen and we need to be prepared for when they do.
Just my two cents for the day.
they should have just gone back home where they lived before moving to Iqaluit. and take those other problematics too. just go back to where you came from. avani1