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KAHBAMIUE/COLVILLE LAKE - A wonky furnace has sometimes been keeping students out of class at Colville Lake school.

And some people in the community are becoming disgruntled with the territorial government's efforts to correct the problem.

"How long is this going to go on?" Alvin Orlias, a parent with children at the school and a member of the local district education authority, asked on Feb. 12.

The answer to the furnace problem came the next day.

"The long and the short of it is we're going to replace it (this) week," said Paul Guy, the director of asset management with the Department of Public Works and Services.

A replacement furnace will be flown to Norman Wells from Yellowknife and taken on the winter road to Colville Lake.

Guy said there will be no classes at the school this week because of a teachers' conference in Yellowknife.

The department became aware of the furnace problem on Feb. 5 after it was advised by its building maintainer in Colville Lake, Guy said, adding an oil burner mechanic visited the school on Feb. 9 and got the furnace going again.

The problem was caused by soot buildup in a burner nozzle.

The oil-burning furnace was installed 15 years ago, Guy said. "We haven't had a lot of problems with it."

The school originally opened in 1991 with a wood stove.

The furnace problem affects the main school building, which accommodates about 23 students from Grades 5 to 12 (students in lower grades attend a nearby portable classroom.)

Ian Patterson, the school's principal, said problems with the furnace have persisted for the two years he has been at the school and have become "chronic" in the past two weeks.

"My feeling is we need a new furnace," he said on Feb. 12.

When contacted the next day by News/North, he had not yet heard the furnace is to be replaced.

"That's good news," he said, adding it probably took pressure from the community to get the replacement.

Classes were cancelled on Feb. 11 and 13 and there was only a half day of school on Feb. 9 because of the furnace problems. Three mornings of classes were cancelled the previous week.

Patterson said the furnace would cut out on a regular basis and classes would be cancelled until the building warmed up.

"The furnace is shutting off every five hours," he explained.

The principal and the building maintainer took turns resetting the furnace - Patterson would go into the building at midnight, while the contractor would go in at about 6 a.m. - so the building would be warm enough for students.

The principal said the school might not sufficiently heat up after a really cold night, and he set it at least 15 C as that's the minimum temperature to hold classes.

Orlias became so frustrated with the furnace problems that he let two of his teenaged sons - one 14 and the other 17 - go trapping in the bush, saying there was no school anyway.

Now that the furnace is to be replaced, he said, "We're very happy about it."

However, he wondered why the situation had to get so bad before the government did anything about it and how the Department of Public Works and Services in Yellowknife could be unaware of the problem for so long.