The Iqaluit fire department continues to investigate the cause of the fire that gutted the city's popular Snack restaurant this week, Chief Greg Jewers says.

The Snack was also the city's only 24-hour food and cigarette delivery service.

Fire crews spent Thursday morning battling a blaze that destroyed the Snack restaurant in Iqaluit.
(CBC News)

Jewers said the fire, which began late Wednesday night, presented a real challenge to firefighters, who spent at least 14 hours battling the blaze.

At one point they had the fire under control, but then it spread to the ceiling of the restaurant and got away, he said.

"The smoke just billowed up until it got to the point the heat was so extreme that it just bust into flames," Jewers said in an interview Thursday.

"At that point in time I had two guys inside the structure so we immediately required an evacuation of the whole structure."

Although he suspects the fire started in the kitchen, he said the investigation will determine where and how the fire began.

The Snack's owners have not yet commented on the fire.

Resident Robert Aoudla, who has been a faithful customer since the restaurant opened in the mid-1980s, said he'll miss the place he considered his home away from home.