Unquenchable garbage dump fire shuts Iqaluit schools

IQALUIT, Nunavut – An unquenchable fire at Iqaluit’s garbage dump that has been burning for weeks has now forced schools to close and prompted a health warning.

Called the “dumpcano,” the fire has been burning since May 20 and is sending thick, white smoke over the Nunavut capital.

Fire chief Luc Grandmaison (grahn-may-ZOHN’) says the smouldering cauldron is about the size of a football field and probably rooted at the bottom of a four-storey trash pile.

Grandmaison says he can’t be sure what’s burning, only that the blaze is being fuelled by tonnes of household garbage.

He says the fire, which has been measured at almost 1,400 C at the surface, is too dangerous to fight.

His firefighters have cut trenches to isolate the burning section and are waiting until it burns itself out.

It’s the fourth fire at the Iqaluit dump since December.