Rankin Inlet (July 19/06) - A massive fire that tore through the Rankin Inlet dump last week sending potentially toxic clouds of smoke into skies over the hamlet, may have been intentionally set, officials say.

The fire marshal is looking into the July 7 blaze, which took the entire Rankin volunteer fire crew almost eight hours to corral. It was the second inferno at the landfill in a 10-day span.

"Foul play may have been involved," said deputy fire chief Junior Tiktak, one of seven crew members who battled the blaze.

The fire began around 10:30 p.m. and within a half hour, it covered a 150-metre-long swath of trash. Huge clouds of smoke billowed into the air as dozens of Rankin residents flocked to the scene. The dump is about 1.5 kilometres from the heart of the hamlet.

The cause of the blaze was not known as of press time and officials declined to comment on what made it appear suspicious.

In some sections, the fire was burning underneath two to three metres of trash, said Tiktak.

A bulldozer sifted through the garbage while fire crews doused flare-ups.

"We were trying to cut it off. We didn't want it to spread to the rest of the dump," Tiktak said.

Hamlet officials barricaded the landfill's entrance and kept onlookers about 400 metres away. The blaze was punctuated with "cracks" as pieces of trash exploded.

Tiktak said there was potential for a larger blast, one reason for the perimeter.

Another was the cloud of smoke rising from the blaze; it could have contained toxic fumes, he said. The wind, however, carried the clouds away from Rankin and over Hudson Bay.

A second fire broke out around 11:30 p.m. but crews were able to bring it under control quickly, Tiktak said.

The main blaze was finally stamped out around 6 a.m., after being doused with 18 truckloads of water, Tiktak said. A fire engine and the hamlet's water truck were both called in to help.

The volunteer firefighters were exhausted after battling through smoke, bugs and foul smelling trash for the entire night.

"It was difficult. When you get a call (like this) you don't know how long you will be out," Tiktak said.

"But it's better than dealing with a house fire. At least it's the dump."

He called the blaze "one of the biggest" he has ever seen at the landfill, which catches on fire about once each summer. It dwarfed a June 29 fire that took about three hours to quell.

The cause of that fire remains unknown. At the time, Rankin's fire chief did not suspect foul play.