Pangnirtung residents asked to use large appliances on rotation

Pangnirtung residents were set to begin using some larger appliances on a rotational basis yesterday afternoon, after a fire damaged the hamlet's power plant last Thursday. 

Shawn Trepanier, Pangnirtung's senior administrative officer, said generators have been installed throughout the community but residents should continue conserving power.

"Between the hours of one and three part of the community will be able to do some laundry and in the evening the other part of town will be able to do laundry as well," he said late Tuesday morning.

"People are . . .  I won't say happy, but people are relieved that things are getting back to normal. We're all pitching in to help out each other and I see it getting better every day."

The Government of Nunavut and the Qulliq Energy Corporation are trying to decide whether the power plant can be repaired or if a new one will have to be built.

Officials say a state of emergency will remain in place until the community has a reliable interim source of power.

Nunavut Director of Emergency Protection Services Ed Zebedee said the department is marshalling equipment in Ottawa to be flown to Iqaluit on a plane, then flown into Pangnirtung on a Chinook heavy-lift helicopter.

Zebedee said he was relieved that Qulliq employees were able to restore partial power within 24 hours of the fire.

"A lot of it is to do with the resiliency of northerners," he said.

"They are much more resilient than people in the South so we were able to cope with it a lot better and that's really helpful. Having the support of the citizens in the community while we are dealing with these emergencies is critical to us."

Qulliq Energy has flown in 15 personnel over the last five days. On Tuesday, an insurance adjuster arrived in the community to begin a full investigation into what caused the fire.