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Food taken from fire scene Chief intercedes as frozen products taken to warehouse
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, October 3, 2013
INUVIK
An investigation into a fire at Alforno's Restaurant is continuing as the Department of Health has become involved.
Inuvik firefighters were back on the scene at Alforno's Restaurant during the evening of Sept. 25 fighting a flare-up. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
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There was a flare-up of the fire early in the evening of Sept. 25 that resulted in another round of firefighting by the Inuvik Fire Department.
As that flare-up was extinguished, an inspection made by Fire Chief Jim Sawkins revealed a substantial amount of meat, poultry and fish products stacked in a nearby room. All of it was expired and not refrigerated, Sawkins told the Inuvik Drum, and had been subject to a previous order from a health inspector.
He said most of the food was more than one year old.
Sawkins was busy trying to track down a local health inspector that evening to address the new matter at the restaurant, which is owned by Talal Khatib.
Sawkins also confirmed Khatib is the main contact person for the numbered corporation that owns the derelict buildings at Kugmallit and Inuit roads that have also been the site of recent suspicious fires.
Sawkins again addressed the issue of the expired food on Sept. 27.
Khatib had been observed removing the food from the premises, but instead of taking it to the dump for disposal, Sawkins said he observed the loads being taken to a warehouse in the industrial area. At that point, he said he called in the town's bylaw department to stop Khatib.
"I ordered them to escort him to the dump and make sure it was disposed of properly," a visibly angry Sawkins said. "He told me he was going to give it away for pet food."
Robert Savoury, the health inspector who is handling the case, had a somewhat different perspective.
"No, there is no problem," he said in an e-mail. "The owner had removed a quantity of frozen food products no longer intended for preparation or sale to the lower floor of the building that was not part of the food premises. The intent of this action was to dispose of the products. This move was in response to a previous environmental health recommendation as a result of a recent routine inspection.
"A fire in the building interrupted the final disposal," Savoury stated. "This was discarded product and did not pose a food safety concern."
Savoury added that "since the fire, the owner has been advised that, before a resumption of business in the facility, an inspection of the food premises must be conducted, including an evaluation of food products on the premises to determine which are acceptable for use and which must be discarded."
Rick Lindsay, the Inuvik representative of the NWT Fire Marshal's office, would say only the fire "remains under investigation."
It's not known at this point what the extent of damage is to the building or how much it would cost to renovate it.
Sawkins is also leading an inter-governmental task force on the derelict buildings owned by the numbered company associated to Khatib. That case, involving orders from the fire marshal's office, which condemn the buildings, is ongoing as well.
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