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Fire destroys community hall

Water runs out, hoses freeze to frustration of firefighters

Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 04/02) - A new community hall will probably be built over the ashes of the old one which burned down while the rest of the country watched the men's hockey team win an Olympic gold medal.

"The councillors are considering rebuilding it through our insurance," said Tom Matis, senior administrative officer with the charter community.

Matis said he foresaw no snags with the insurance company after an adjuster visited the community last week.

There was no one in the building at the time and it appears an electrical malfunction triggered the fire, said Matis.

The 30-year-old, $300,000 building, will be replaced next year. There is not enough time to truck materials to the community before the ice road closes, said Matis.

On the morning of Feb. 24, the residents in the Dogrib community awoke to a morning filled with smoke.

Around 14 volunteer firefighters battled flames and smoke engulfing their log-house community hall all day in -23 C temperatures but could not save it.

Around 2:30 p.m. firefighters contained the fire and almost quenched it but the community's reservoir ran out of water, said Joe-Louis Moosenose, Wha Ti's fire chief.

By 7 p.m. the water reservoir has been refilled but it was too late. In the end there was nothing left but ash, a few logs at the base and the sheet-metal roof blackened by fire.

"I was tired, we were exhausted and some firefighters were mad about not saving (the building)," said Moosenose.

"It was an important building in the community, but what can you do?"

A phone call from Therese Jeremick'ca jarred Moosenose from sleep around 10 a.m. that morning.

"She said smoke was coming out of the building," said Moosenose, who then drove to the site for a look around and noticed smoke billowing from the boiler room.

Moosenose said they fired water from two hoses, one hooked up to the fire truck the other to the water truck to battle the flames while millions of Canadians reclined in front of the television cheering the biggest hockey game since 1972 -- the year the hall was built.

When the water ran out they went down to the lake, drilled a hole and tried to refill the fire truck. It didn't work because they couldn't prime the pump. The hoses froze.

Jeremick'ca was cooking eggs Sunday morning at around 9:50 a.m. Her daughter, Katharine, noticed smoke seeping between the logs of the hall. She was at the sink by the window which looked out across the street to the hall.

Jeremick'ca, who had been getting ready for church, ran out of her house to the building and noticed more smoke and ran back to call Moosenose.

She never made it to church that day even though it was postponed from its usual 10:30 a.m. start to 2 p.m.

"I was running around in my nightgown," said Jeremick'ca. "I was scared, it was so close to my house."

Hall manager April Nitisza was getting ready for church when Katherine Jeremick'ca knocked on her door to tell her the building beside her house was on fire.

She rushed to grab her baby and took it to her mother's house. Aside from attending the church service that afternoon, she hovered near the burning hall for most of the day.

"It was like a nightmare," said Nitisza. "I couldn't believe my eyes."

Nitisza said the hall had a rough winter. Some of the heating wasn't working and the pipes needed to be fixed.

Despite its decrepit state it housed the pool hall for the community where the youth hung out.

"Now there's kids coming to my place saying there is nothing to do," said Nitisza. "I let them hang around my house for a couple of hours."

Construction on the now-destroyed hall began in March 1972 and it opened that summer. Since then it has been the centre of community social life.

Three decades of community drum dances, hand-games, meetings and feasts turned to frozen ash in one day.

"It's strange not having the building there any more," said Nitisza.

Matis said the community was planning to replace the hall in the next few years.