Inuvik Fire was dispatched to McCauley Apartments at 6:58 a.m. on June 3rd due to reports of a fire under the structure, with smoke migrating into the rear of the building.
The fire crews were met by tenants evacuating and the fire was extinguished by fire personnel and RCMP just after 7 a.m. No injuries have been reported.
Witnesses also reported that two children were seen under the building, but after a primary search, none were found.
However later, two youths under the age of 12 who allegedly started the fire were located. An investigation and actions are being undertaken with the children and their parents.
Inuvik Fire says they are concerned about this event as the fire under the apartment building put the tenants at serious risk to health and life, in addition to damaging property.
“The consequences could have been much more tragic,” they add.
They also commend the tenant of the apartment that was first alerted to the fire.
“She reported that she could smell smoke and that smoke was entering her apartment. She and another occupant quickly alerted other tenants to evacuate and initiated contact with emergency services,” they add.
One the scene was cleared, firefighters accompanied tenants back to their apartments to assess for any presence of smoke and ventilated to clear smoke from the building.
The Fire Department was also notified of a second fire on the shore of Twin Lakes at 8:28 a.m. which they quickly extinguished. It’s undetermined if the two fires were related or not.
