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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The director of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre says she is hoping to see the museum fully re-opened by the end of January.

Her comments come after the Department of Education, Culture and Employment announced Thursday that while the museum's archives have re-opened, work is still being done and damages are still being assessed.

"I'm really hoping that we're open by the end of the month," said museum director Barb Cameron. "That would be the outside for me, but my commitment is really to safety. Staff areas are safe to work in, all of our staff are back at work, but in terms of the public coming in and enjoying our exhibits, we just don't have the restoration crews out of here yet and that's a big conflict, having the construction and the public access."

She said it was a shock to wake up on Boxing Day and learn of the fire.

"I would say it certainly was a surprise. Nobody would imagine that would happen, but it did," said Cameron. "There's never been anything like this in the history of the heritage centre to my knowledge."

She said affected individuals and organizations were contacted and made aware of the situation and that their items were safe.

"Many things in a museum, as you can appreciate, you can't put a value on them," she said. "They are one of a kind, irreplaceable."

She said teams are still working on the restoration process, meaning the museum stays closed until further notice. While the fire department released an initial estimate of $200,000 in damages, those numbers could change significantly when they release their report.

The museum has undergone extensive renovations in recent years, including a $9.6 million retrofit begun in 2003. Last year, part of the museum's roof was repaired to fix a leak but that part wasn't damaged, said Cameron.

The fire is estimated to have started around 6:30 a.m. on Boxing Day, causing the museum's sprinkler system to activate. Because the sprinklers only went off in the affected area, none of the collections were damaged, with exception to the Discovery Gallery, which received some water damage. Other sections of the museum were unaffected by smoke damage because each area has it's own, independent climate controls.

"What happens when there is a fire in any area is that all the systems, the ventilation shuts down in the other areas of the building, so smoke was not able to get anywhere," said Cameron.

She said she is pleased with the efforts of firefighters, who arrived on scene within minutes of the alarm.

"I was relieved that nobody was in the building at the time, nobody was hurt fighting the fire and all our exhibits were safe," said Cameron.

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