Fire next door shuts down nuclear reactor at McMaster
Fire's out and no injuries were reported, but evening classes are canceled
CBC News Posted: Jul 07, 2016 1:44 PM ET Last Updated: Jul 07, 2016 6:22 PM ET
Firefighters battle a fire at McMaster's ET Clarke Centre on Thursday afternoon. (Dave Beatty/CBC)
McMaster University evening classes are cancelled Thursday due to complications from a fire at the campus's ET Clarke Centre that affected air conditioning systems.
No one was injured in the fire, officials said, which firefighters responded to around 12:30 p.m. on Thursday.
ET Clarke is the building that houses the campus's parking and security office and stands next to the nuclear reactor.
Wade Hemsworth, McMaster's Media Relations manager, said the fire had no interaction with their nuclear facilities and there was never any danger to the public.
The university did report the fire to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and the reactor was shut down as a precaution. The commission said there was no impact to the reactor or the building it lives in.
McMaster said that Avenue 2 Learn assignments due Thursday are now due at the same time Friday, because the power interruption affected the school's computer servers.
Fire started in basement boiler rooms
The fire started in the basement boiler rooms, where fire services say they encountered heavy fire when they arrived there around 12:30 p.m. It had also spread to the lower floors of the building.
Employees as well as contractors on site quickly evacuated the building.
Hamilton fire spokesperson, Dave Christopher, said by 2 p.m. the fire was "basically" out — only hot spots remained. Firefighters took a few hours to ensure the fire had not spread elsewhere.
There is ongoing partial demolition of boiler equipment at the site, Hamilton Fire said.
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Fire at ET Clarke Centre contained to basement & 1st floor. No injuries reported. Please stay away from the area at this time.
1:16 PM - 7 Jul 2016
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The fire caused the power to be cut to nearby buildings.
Seventeen units were called to battle the fire on "one of the hottest days of the year," Christopher said. More fire crews were called in to give relief to the initial units who arrived first.
Christopher said the amount of damage caused by the fire is still unknown, but the structure still intact.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/fir...t-mcmaster-1.3668854
