An early-morning fire at Barrie’s Georgian College campus has shut down classes for today after smoke billowed through the buildings.
The cause of Wednesday's fire is still under investigation.
The Georgian Drive campus looked like a ghost town this morning, as blockades have the entrances shut down while fire crews work to rid the college of the smoke that made its way to different buildings.
Fire crews received the call at approximately 4 a.m.
The Barrie fire department's public information officer, Samantha Hoffmann, told BarrieToday there were no injuries, but smoke is the real problem firefighters are dealing with right now.
“We responded with 22 firefighters, eight apparatus in total and exhausted all of the air bottles they have on inventory,” said Hoffmann.
“The fire was contained to a small office and classroom, but the smoke carried to different buildings on campus, so many alarms were going off simultaneously, which is obviously a bit of a scare," she added.
The fire started in the college’s E Building, which is home to the tourism and hospitality department, but smoke carried to different sections of the campus, including the cafeteria, forcing the food and safety department to be called to check on the food in that wing.
Hoffmann said that while the cause is currently unknown, the investigation is ongoing.
“The cause and determination are something we’re still waiting for. Our investigator is on scene and the Office of the Fire Marshal is en route and they will look at what the actual cause was,” she said.
College communications manager Cheryn Thoun told BarrieToday that students should keep in contact with the Georgian’s website for updates on their studies.
“We will be providing an update later today,” said Thoun. “For now, we are assessing the buildings and working with Barrie Fire to determine when we could resume operations, so stay tuned for more information."
Students can check the website for updates on classes.
