Second Iqaluit shack fire this week leaves 1 person homeless

Inutsiaq Teemotee, emotion in his voice, expresses concern for his nephew left homeless by the Thursday evening blaze. (Photo by Daron Letts)

Iqaluit firefighters were called to a fire in a shack behind the old courthouse on Ring Road Thursday around 7 p.m.

“Crews responded quickly to bring it under control. There were no injuries reported,” said City of Iqaluit spokesperson Geoffrey Byrne in an email.

The cause of the fire is not known yet, he said.

Nunavut RCMP Sgt. George Henrie said Thursday’s fire is under investigation.

The incident left one man homeless, said Inutsiaq Teemotee, who identified himself as the uncle of the shack’s lone resident.

Teemotee himself lived there for five years with his girlfriend, he said. After the pair found other housing, his nephew moved in.

“The firefighters told me if I touch the wall, the whole thing will just collapse,” Teemotee said Friday, his voice cracking with emotion as he surveyed the scene.

He said he suspects arson.

“Someone we don’t know went in and started the fire,” Teemotee said, adding there was a wood stove and a Coleman stove inside the shack.

He said his nephew has nothing left and needs clothing, shelter and other supplies.

“I hope the people of Iqaluit help,” he said.

This was at least the second shack fire in Iqaluit this week. On Tuesday around 11:30 p.m., firefighters extinguished a fire in a shack near the old cemetery. No injuries were reported in that blaze either.

There is no information to indicate the two fires are connected, said Henrie.