Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services
Monday, February 5, 2007

HALL BEACH - Hall Beach is without one of its best used facilities, and an arsonist is the suspected culprit.

At 9:38 p.m. on Jan. 31, the Hall Beach fire department responded to a call at the community hall, and three hours later they had the fire out.

The fire marshal is investigating, but hamlet officials think the verdict will be arson.

"It is a suspected arson. They saw a fire in the garbage can (in the girl's washroom), a little girl reported it to the staff. By the time we got everybody out of the hall, we couldn't do anything," said community hall co-ordinator Roger Beaudry.

"The fire started in the girl's washroom, and it was pretty bad," said fire Chief George Qayaqjuaq.

Firefighters were in for a nasty surprise when they started to battle the blaze. New nozzles for the fire hoses were useless in the -45 C weather.

"The new nozzles froze in under two minutes. When our hoses froze, we used the foam for the airport instead. It worked well," said Qayaqjuaq.

A decision to replace the fire nozzles will be made when the fire marshal visits, Qayaqjuaq said.

Eight fire fighters responded to the emergency call on Wednesday. They battled the blaze for three hours.

On Thursday, Beaudry was still waiting to see what's left of the building.

"At the moment, we aren't allowed in, but it looks like there was a lot of damage," he said.

Arson is not common in Hall Beach, according to Beaudry.

"This is very rare, it is the first time," he said.

You could find Hall Beach residents in the community hall every day and night, except Sunday. Now the local school gym will have to suffice, and it is half the size of the community hall.

"There was supposed to be court today, but they used the gym. Tonight, it was supposed to be the Rangers, and then the kids get to use it," said Beaudry.

One of the most missed events will be the scheduled time for the youth.

Every night, kids were invited to play kickball and use the space, since playing outside is very difficult in the cold conditions.

The fire started during one of those open gym nights.

Along with the eight firefighters, a fire truck and a water truck were dispatched to the scene.