Fire destroys Naujaat community hall
CBC
The community hall in Naujaat, Nunavut has been destroyed by a fire.
Cpl. Sean French, with the Naujaat RCMP, said the building is a complete loss due to the fire, which started around midnight Friday and burned throughout the day on Saturday. He said it was extinguished by Sunday.
The fire also caused an hour-long power outage across all of Naujaat at around 5 a.m. on Saturday, meaning many in the community were without heat while temperatures were below freezing, French said.
The community has about six volunteer firefighters who were on scene with two fire trucks and two water trucks that are normally used to deliver water to the community.
Videos posted to Facebook Saturday morning showed the building engulfed in flames and smoke.
French applauded the Naujaat firefighters for their response.
"I mean those guys are all volunteers. They were on scene, they did a tremendous job and they fought it right until basically they just couldn't fight it anymore," he said.
Several homes near the community hall and the health centre were evacuated for a few hours overnight Friday due to the risk of the fire spreading, French said.
He added that the community was lucky it was a calm night in Naujaat, which is known for extreme winds that can last for days.
"It would have been a whole different game, I'm afraid, with embers flying through the air at 100 miles an hour, spreading throughout the community. That would've been terrible, so we were spared that at least," French said.
A fire investigator and an electrical investigator from the Nunavut Fire Marshal's Office were scheduled to arrive in the community on Sunday to investigate the cause of the fire, French said. The RCMP will assist in the investigation.
Naujaat is about 500 kilometres northeast of Rankin Inlet.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.