Dozens homeless after devastating Iqaluit row-house fire

Overnight scene of an Iqaluit blaze which burned a 22-unit block of row houses in the downtown Creekside Village complex, also known as "White Row.

Iqaluit - Firefighters Monday were still on the scene of a terrible fire in downtown Iqaluit overnight which devastated a 22-unit block of row houses, leaving dozens of people homeless as temperatures dipped below -48 C with the wind chill.

Some media outlets were reporting two fatalities, but while Nunavut chief coroner Padma Suramala told the Nunatsiaq News there "appears to be some fatalities" the coroner could not immediately confirm two or any number of deaths. Suramala said it will be up to the RCMP to confirm any deaths later Monday.
But later in the afternoon Nunavut RCMP, in a statement, said that despite the news reports, they "cannot confirm" that anyone is missing as a result of the fire.
Volunteers were co-ordinating to set up donation drop off points for some 300 people who fell victim to the fire.
Nearby Nakasuk Elementary School, which suffered flooding from water used to fight the fire during the night, remained closed as well as three other city schools.
Shortly before 1 a.m. Monday, flames continued to spiral high above the 300 block of Creekside Village, after a fire that started just before 10 p.m. Sunday resisted the efforts of firefighters trying to contain the blaze in the midst of -50 C windchills.
At about 10 p.m., the first fire alarms alerted residents of the 22 three-bedroom units that make up the 300 block of row houses, all but one occupied by Nunavut Arctic College students and their families.
They first evacuated to the Nunavut Arctic College building and then to the Frobisher Inn, on the hill overlooking the blaze, where by 12:30 a.m. Monday, 18 rooms had been handed out.
By midnight, Andrew Arreak of Pond Inlet, an environmental technology student at Arctic College, his girlfriend Jenna, and their two young daughters, had settled down in a room at the Frobisher Inn.
"I'm hoping it doesn't burn," Arreak, a resident of unit 314, said about his family's home, as he clutched a container of baby formula and a bottle that someone had dropped off for his baby.
In the lobby of the Frobisher Inn — owned by Nunastar, the same company that owns Creekside Village, a grim Don S. Chenier, the general manager of Nunastar, and Gord Durnford, rental officer, watched the fire on a computer screen from a remote camera below the flames.
Electrical power had been cut off to at least one other block of units in the Creekside complex, so they were unable to see the fire close-up.
But their view was disheartening enough: flames shooting above the level of the block closest to the street, black smoke spewing into the sky, and water from the firefighters cutting a path through the ice as it streamed down a slope.
"Everyone has gotten out," Chenier said, watching the fire. "That's all the matters right now."
The 96-unit Creekside complex, which until recently was known informally as "White Row housing" dates back to about 1970. The complex hugs the space between a hill and the road that circles the centre of Iqaluit.
The units were completely retrofitted a year and a half ago with fire resistant materials, Chenier said.
Also at the Frobisher Inn, Madeleine Redfern, the mayor of Iqaluit, said victims of the fire can expect assistance from the Red Cross.
By 1:30 a.m., plans were underway to accommodate up to 300 evacuees at the Frobisher Inn and NAC's Ukkivik residence.
"It's always devastating," Redfern said of the fire. "These are people's homes."
At 2:30 a.m. firefighters stationed themselves at the end of the row house. They sprayed water on to the side wall of the building to stop the fire from jumping to another set of row houses next door. Black smoke furled up from the fire, blown north over parts of the city and above Frobisher Bay.