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PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG
Timiusie Dialla remembers the days when fighting fires meant having to haul a qamutiik loaded with 12 portable extinguishers out of a shed and tow it by hand with a rope to the fire.

Timiusie Dialla in his formal uniform with the Pangnirtung Fire Department. Dialla was with the department for 47 years and five months. - photo courtesy of Timiusie Dialla

"That was the fire department for so many years," he said.

The 63-year-old has lived in Pangnirtung most of his life, and was 16 when he started serving on the fire department in 1965. In fact, he was with the fire department from day one, after then-Department of Northern Affairs had asked the municipality to form a fire brigade for its population of about 100 people.

Dialla recalls how the fire department, "a wooden box" in the 1960s, has grown over the years, purchasing larger and more effective equipment such as a Bombardier Muskeg with tracks, a 400-gallon tank and firefighting pump in the early 1970s. Over the years, it would acquire modern fire trucks.

For nearly 50 years – 47 years and five months, to be exact – Dialla put out fires, helping save buildings and lives in the community. He can also recount a number of houses they lost as well as one school, which particularly sticks in his memory. He was on a Twin Otter flying back into Pang when he heard the school was on fire.

"Those twenty minutes was the longest flight I ever had trying to get home. By the time I got there only one little piece of the school was standing," he said.

Another memorable – and more fortunate – moment during his time with the fire department was a recent close call. While working at the airport, Dialla heard there was a house fire with two kids stuck inside, so he jumped in the airport's "crash truck" and sped off to help. En route to the fire, Dialla got in an accident with a fuel truck that was driven by his brother-in-law.

"It was almost a head on collision," he said, explaining that luckily there wasn't much damage to either truck. "We just said, 'Well, we'll talk later,' and I went to the fire anyway. But that was unforgettable, running into that fuel truck."

As it happened, the kids were rescued and Dialla as well as five other Pangnirtung firefighters – Larry Dialla, Robert Dialla, Jonah Akulukjuk, Norman Nowyook and David Uniukshagak – were awarded with medals for distinguished service. On Oct. 26, the Pangnirtung Fire Department received the Governor General's Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal, awarded by Community and Government Services Minister Lorne Kusugak on behalf of the governor general.

Dialla's father, brother-in-law and two sons have also all been long-serving members of the fire department, so firefighting is in his blood. Now, as a father of six, grandfather of 14 and great-grandfather of four, Dialla is happy staying at home, though he's always on-call.

"I'm starting to miss the fire department already and it's been less than a year, but I'm not planning to go back," he said. "When I left the fire department I said 'I'm not dead yet. Whenever you need help just give me a shout. I will still help you."

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