London City Hall has been evacuated and workers will be sent home after an electrical issue in the lower part of the building.
The London Fire Department was called to 300 Dufferin Ave. just after 9 a.m. due to smoke in the building after a transformer malfunctioned. No injuries were reported.
“We do know where the issue lies. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a lengthy timeframe to bring this all back up to speed,” platoon chief Gary Mosburger says. “We’re working with city facility staff as well as London Hydro to remedy the power issues to the building.”
Mosburger says the building is working off emergency power and most likely will be for the rest of the day.
Wednesday’s fire comes only a few days after the end of Emergency Preparedness Week. City manager Sandra Datars Bere says the evacuation of the building went smoothly and praised city staff.
“We evacuated consistent with our emergency management protocols,” Datars Bere said outside city hall. “This kind of stuff is practised. There are fire wardens everywhere around, they know exactly what to do.”
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Small groups of employees are being allowed back into the building to collect their things before heading to other offices or to work from home.
“We’re still providing service today. Maybe not in person, because city hall will be not open, at least for the next little foreseeable period of time until the power is fully up and running,” Datars Bere said.
Service London, where Londoners can report issues like potholes and garbage collection, remains online. Other City of London offices remain open and available.
“It’s not one of the things you want to have happen but it’s going very smoothly and we’re really proud of the work that our teams do, and (the fire department) and London Hydro as well.”
City hall is expected to remain closed for the rest of the day and reopen on Thursday.
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