Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Gjoa Haven (May 20/02) - Seven young Nunavummiut are lucky to be alive after destroying the Qikiqtaq Co-op warehouse last Monday.

Looking for pop and chips to steal, the youths found a case of matches instead, police said. They were playing with the matches when they accidentally set the building on fire.

The warehouse and all its contents -- food, furniture and appliances -- was completely destroyed. The one piece of good news is that all seven children escaped without injury.

"The rest is history and so is the building. It burned to the ground," said Gjoa Haven RCMP Cpl. Mike Toohey.

He said police received the call at 5:45 a.m. Monday and responded immediately with hamlet firefighters. But upon arriving at the scene, they found the building engulfed by flames.

"By the time we got to the scene, we couldn't even send firefighters in," said Toohey.

All seven children are under the age of 12 and cannot be charged.

The law also prevents police from releasing information about the youths.

Uriel Budden, the general manager of the Co-op, said he wasn't able to put a dollar figure on the damage until an inventory of the stock is finished.

He also said he has re-ordered more stock and was in the process of flying the food into the community. He estimated the Co-op had enough groceries on the shelves to last community members a week or two.

"If we do have empty shelves, it will only be for a short period of time," said Budden.

The added cost of flying in the supplies will not be felt by customers.

"Somebody is going to absorb the costs, whether it's the Co-op or the insurance or the government, but the people won't absorb the costs," said Budden.

While residents are grateful there was no loss of life, the event left people saddened and looking to each other for ways to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

"The other sad thing is that kids went there and set it on fire," said community member Raymond Kamookak.

"The families of some of the kids went on the radio and apologized and said they were looking for ways to improve things in the community," he said.

"The town is looking at how we can look after the kids better."

Toohey said the police will do their part by visiting the school more often, enforcing a curfew and organizing a meeting with the children and parents involved in the matter.