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Alforno's restaurant burns Early morning blaze deemed suspicious
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, September 26, 2013
INUVIK
The Alforno's Restaurant building sustained what looked to be heavy damage in a fire early Wednesday morning.
The Inuvik Fire Department was called to Alforno's Restaurant at the corner of Mackenzie Road and Tununuk Place at about 5 a.m. on Sept. 25. Fire Chief Jim Sawkins said the blaze was a stubborn one, and his crews were still putting out hot spots at 9 a.m. He had no immediate ideas on the cause of the blaze or a damage estimate. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
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The NWT Fire Marshal's office has been called in to investigate the cause. That is generally only the case when the cause is deemed to be suspicious, said Inuvik Fire Chief Jim Sawkins.
He said the department was called about the blaze by a passerby at approximately 5 a.m. The firefighters remained on the scene past 9 a.m. fighting hot spots.
Sawkins said it was a tricky fire to fight, as the building is one of the older structures in Inuvik, with many sub-floors and walls.
The department used its tower truck to flood the building from the top after cutting a hole in the outer walls, Sawkins said. It's a technique the firefighters used earlier this year to fight a stubborn fire in the derelict buildings on Inuit and Kugmallit roads.
The owner was in the Alforno's building at the time, Sawkins said, and thought he had smelled smoke but wasn't certain of the cause.
The firefighters managed to rescue a large orange cat from the structure.
"I have no idea of the damage so far," Sawkins said. "It looks like it might have started from underneath somewhere, but we haven't had a chance for a good look."
At 10 a.m., Sawkins said the cause had been officially deemed "suspicious." That's why the fire marshal had been called in.
Talal Khatib owns the building. He said it's uninsured, and is about 45 years old.
He said the building was worth about $2.5 million.
Four people were employed at the restaurant.
This is the latest in a string of fires around town, although none have been connected.
Over the summer, a derelict truck burned in the Alforno's parking lot, followed by a string of fires around the derelict buildings near Kugmallit Road in the vicinity of the Blueberry Patch.
The largest fire was to the Inuvialuit Development Group Building about a month ago.
"I noticed smoke around 5 a.m.," Khatib said. "I was upstairs having a shower."
"I looked from the back window and (thought I saw smoke), so I called the fire department and grabbed a couple of fire extinguishers but it was too smoky."
That was when the fire department arrived to fight the blaze.
Sawkins said Kahtib had to be removed from the scene to allow the firefighters to work on the fire without interference.
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