INUVIK
Two adults have been arrested and charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking after RCMP responded to a house fire on Ruyant Crescent on April 15.

A police officer keeps watch on Ruyant Crescent at the site of a second fire set April 15. The incident brought the total of suspicious fires in the community to five in the past few weeks. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo

Police executed a search warrant and members found and seized 1.3 kilograms of marijuana, along with other items related to the sale of illicit drugs, according to a statement from the police issued April 20.

The two adults have been released by a Justice of the Peace and will be appearing in Inuvik Territorial Court, July 12. The suspects have not been named.

The fire at 49 Ruyant Cres., reported at about 5:40 a.m. last Friday, was the second of the morning after a truck was set ablaze earlier that hour on Union Street.

Inuvik's fire chief says he believes an arsonist or arsonists took advantage of the fire department's preoccupation with a truck fire by setting the mobile home on fire a half-hour later.

A black truck at 8 Union Street was reported on fire at 5:13 a.m.

Fire Chief Jim Sawkins told the Drum his department responded and the vehicle was fully engulfed by the time they got to the scene a few minutes after receiving a call.

At 5:42 a.m., a second call was made to the department about a fire at a mobile home at 49 Ruyant Cres. The fire was quickly contained and caused damage only to the skirting around the back of the structure.

"This is the second fire we responded to at that home since September," said Sawkins, adding the homeowner was the previous occupant of 10 Balsam St., a mobile home that was destroyed by fire in July.

The Drum reached out to the occupant at 49 Ruyant but he declined to answer questions about the prevalence of fires at places he has lived.

Sawkins could not confirm whether the two fires April 15 were connected, or whether there is a connection to three other suspicious fires in the community over the past few weeks.

However, he suggested that whoever set the second fire wanted to catch the department off guard.

"Today, I think whether or not they're tied together, I think one played against the other, thinking we would be busy," he said.

"Let me assure the public that my crew of professionals will seek and destroy any fire."

An earlier statement from the RCMP did not state whether or not the most recent fires are connected, nor did it mention their connection to any previous blazes.

Instead, it implored community members to come forward if they know anything about the incidents.

"Inuvik RCMP are requesting the public's assistance in helping to find the person(s) responsible for these fires," a news release states.

"The public is asked to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity in and around their neighbourhood and/or property to the police."

Fire marshal Rick Lindsay, however, said investigators are now looking for common denominators in the fires to see if they are indeed connected.

"It's still under investigation," he said. "But we're now looking into whether it's all part of one big plan ... It's a little town; sooner or later, evidence will come through."