Canada’s only Indigenous Aviation Program has been left with no hangar, no planes, and now no program.
Around 11:00 pm Thursday night, Mohawk, Tyendinaga Township and Belleville Fire crews responded to 314 Airport Road, west of Highway 49, on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
An old World War 2 hangar along the road was fully engulfed when crews arrived on scene.
Fire Chief Scott Maracle spoke to Quinte News early Friday morning.
“Old World War 2 era building. All heavy timber, there was no saving it at that point. It was a fair size, about 200 x 100 (feet), same as C.F.B Trenton, you can find buildings like that up there. Old World War 2 era.”
He says the damages for the entire hangar and contents will be in the tens of millions of dollars.
“According to F.N.T.I (First Nations Technical Institute) personnel, there were 13 planes inside, 5 of them brand new. $2 million worth of brand new planes and all the other ones.”
Suzanne Brant is the President of First Nations Technical Institute. She says they lease the hangar from the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. She says it was not just planes inside.
“We also had an A.M.O an Aircraft Maintenance Operation, so those planes were serviced in that operation.”
There were students in the program from across Canada. Brant says a nearby building housing students was evacuated in the overnight and thankfully no one was injured. Students have been sent to alternate accommodations, while FNTI works on returning students home.
There will be traffic disruptions on Airport Road through much of Friday.
Brant says although they are still digesting what happened, they fully intend on rebuilding and continuing the program.
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FNTI President Suzanne Brant outside what remains of the FNTI hanger the morning after a massive blaze which caused millions of dollars in damages. (Photo: Tim Durkin/Quinte News)
