Girls set alight in propane blaze
Faces burned after propane sniffing in Arctic Bay

by Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

NNSL (June 16/97) - Some kids in the North just don't seem to get the message that fuel and flames don't mix.

Three Arctic Bay girls were set on fire while sniffing propane just before 9 a.m. June 7, the third incident of its kind in the last year.

Six-year-old Bernard Naulalik of Iqaluit and a four-year-old from Tuktoyaktuk were injured after they were set on fire by youths who were sniffing gasoline.

RCMP Const. Harvey Seddon said, however, that this is the first such incident in Arctic Bay.

"I've been here eight months, but we have nothing on the record like this having happened before," he said. "We've seen use of solvents, but never any injuries, fires or explosions."

The girls -- aged nine, 10 and 11 -- were sniffing from a barbecue propane tank in a shed when someone lit a disposable lighter, causing the fumes to ignite and explode. Some of the contents of the shed were also ignited, but were quickly extinguished.

The three girls then walked to the health centre for treatment.

A 15-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl were also present when the explosion took place, but they weren't injured.

Seddon said that the investigation continues, but wouldn't say whether or not charges would be laid. "I don't expect to find anything different than I've found so far," he said.

All three girls sustained first-, second- and third-degree burns on their faces, and one girl suffered burns on her hands as well. They are reported to be in stable condition.

The 11-year-old burn victim is recovering from burns that cover less than 10 per cent of her body after she was medevaced to the Baffin Regional Hospital in Iqaluit. The other girls flew commercial air to Iqaluit, but weren't admitted to hospital.