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Fire destroys three trailers
Andrew Rankin Northern News Services Published Monday, November 15, 2010
About 30 firefighters arrived on scene shortly after the department received a frantic emergency call from people at the residence at about 11:15 a.m. The blaze was traced back to the property's wood stove, according to the fire marshal's investigation that afternoon. By the time crews showed up at the roadside location, two of the three interconnecting structures were already fully engulfed in flames and, according to Inuvik Fire Chief Al German, the other trailer couldn't be salvaged, but the group of town and Canadian Forces firefighters saved a garage located just behind the trailers. The three older residences were walled with a highly flammable type of panel made with glue and resin, said German. "It only takes about seven minutes for those trailers to burn down," said German. He confirmed the property belonged to Walter Bebek. Police rerouted traffic off a section of Airport Road for about an hour and a half while firefighters battled the blaze. According to Cpl. Damon Werrell of the Inuvik RCMP, a man and a woman in their early 20s discovered the fire. Both escaped from the trailer but the woman was cut by a shard of glass while trying to leave through a broken window. The woman went to hospital on her own where she received stitches to close the wound, said German. German said the firefighting effort was made more challenging because the location was isolated and there were no hydrants around from which to draw water. "Anybody who lives outside the rural area is taking a big chance because there's no fire hydrants," he said. He suggested a proper sprinkler system might have contained the fire by the time crews arrived. Firefighters faced the same water shortage problem the day before when water trucks had to be called in to aid in the effort to tame the disastrous Aklak Air hangar fire on Nov. 4. German had nothing but praise for his firefighters. "We have a great fire department," he said. "They worked hard for two days dragging their bums everywhere. It's a lot of work, it's strenuous and they're volunteers. I can't thank them enough." The fire marshal deemed the fire accidental and no charges will be laid.
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