Prices won't rise after Iqaluit grocery store burns, Northmart says
Emergency crews responded to 5 blazes, including 3 vehicle fires
An early morning fire on Thursday at the Northmart store in Iqaluit forced the evacuation of nearby homesas crews worked to put out the blaze and respond to other fires reported in the area.
"We got a call at 2 a.m. that there was a fire in the store, and we came down and there was a big fire," said Hassan Kassar, assistant manager of Northmart, one of two major retailers selling groceries and merchandise to people in Nunavut's capital.
"Unfortunately we are going to be closed today obviously with the situation we are in, until we are able to get into the building and assess what the situation is," said Kassar.
The fire was one of several blazes also affecting debris beside the storeand multiple vehiclesreported Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, all in the same area.
RCMP, and municipal enforcement and firefighters all attendedto them. The city says 18 firefighters attended five fires, with three of them beingcar fires.
The city's acting fire chiefNelson Johnson saidthe fire started in the loading dock areaand moved up to the attic.
Police say no injuries have been reported. As of 6:30 p.m. local time the fire marshall and police continued to investigate the cause of the fire.
The part of the Northmart store that burned was the warehouse area, where the food that comes up on sealift cargo ships is stored. The city saidthere is enough space in the community to cover additional food storage needs.
Iqaluit has no road connection to southern Canada, so all food must be flown or shipped into the city.
The last of the sealifts before Frobisher Bay freezes just arrived, so losing food and storage space will have consequences for the city this winter.
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About half of the building appears to be destroyed. Two excavators workedto demolish the warehouse section to prevent the fire from spreadingto the main grocery section of the store.
IqaluitMayor Madeleine Redfern said it's likely most of the non-perishables that have been shipped up are gone.
"All the furniture, appliances, the snowmobile shop for the most part at this point has been lost. So it's a major disruption for anyone who would need those goods over the course of the year," she said.
Northmart says prices won't rise
AlexYeo, the president of Canadian retail for the North West Company, said insurance will help the company cover the losses.
Most of the supplies shipped up for winter are gone, but a small portion wasoutside the store and in external warehousing.
"Whatever we fly in, the prices are not going to change because we want to make sure people get the food they need,"Yeosaid.
"We're willing to take the hit this is our community, this is home to our 117 employees."
The snowmobile repair shop will be at another location in town, so Iqaluit residents will be able to get their machines repaired there.
Water conservation
The city askedresidents to conserve water Thursdayso thewater supply couldgo to fighting the fire.
Water delivery to homes without piped water was also cancelled for the day.
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Andrea Spitzer, the city's communications manager, askedresidents to avoid the area around the store to allow emergency services to work quickly. NakasukElementary School, across from the Northmart, wasclosed for the day.
The fire forced the evacuation of a set of townhouses for community elders behind the store.The elders living there have been temporarily relocated to the Elders Qammaq a community gathering place and drop-incentre for seniors. The Canadian Red Cross is also assisting the elders.
The government of Nunavut is working on finding longer-term accommodations for the displaced elders.
In the Legislative Assembly, NunavutPremier Joe Savikataaqsaid the Department of Health will assist with prescriptions, as Northmartis one of two pharmacies in town.
TheQikiqtani General Hospital will store medications for the time being. The government's income support clients can have their benefits transferred to another store.
Not time for food panic, mayor says
The fire caused long lines at the city's smaller grocery store, Arctic Ventures.
"There's a little bit of panic, I guess, considering we're the only main grocery store left in town, so people are concerned food is going to run out," said JohnSimms, director of subsidiaries and auxiliary business for Arctic Cooperatives, who is responsible for the Iqaluit store's operations.
He saidhe'sconfident in the store's ability to provide enough food for the community.
Arctic Ventures is able to triple its food shipments, which come in on a cargo flight once a week, bringing in an extra 27,000 kilograms weeklywithout changing itsshipment schedule.
The cityis working with the territorial government and other retailers on a contingency plan, Redfernsaid, telling residents "it's not a time to panic."
"There will be food flown into the community on a regular basis, if not more frequently at this point in time," the mayor said.
Northmart had a food shipment scheduled to come inat 8 p.m. Thursday,and Arctic Co-operatives, which owns Ventures, saidit will take the food as part of acontingency plan to feed Iqaluit.
Iqaluit has four convenience stores and two specialty stores that also sell food.
With files from KieranOudshoorn, Nick Murray
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