Tuesday night fire department callout to college suspected to be due to mechanical breakdown iin air circulation fan sending smoke into parts of the building.
Portage College President Trent Keough says a smoky situation on Tuesday night has cleared up, and he thanks the fire department and others for helping to keep the situation under control.
“We thank the Lac La Biche fire department, college responders and to all those tolerating the short term inconvenience” said Dr.
Keough, the day after firefighters were called to the Lac La Biche campus to address calls that smoke was noticed inside the building.
According to a college press release issued just hours after the 9 pm. incident, the fire department was notified of smoke at the Portage College Lac La Biche Campus and the call was treated as a fire. Fire crews arrived and found the source of the smoke to be from an air supply fan motor that seized in the penthouse suite, which caused smoke to be pushed into the building. The air supply fan motor supplies air to Block B of the College, which includes the executive offices, the McGrane Theatre and the school's library..
According to Portage spokesperson Jaime Davies, once the fire alarm was pulled, the air flow to the college shut down automatically so no air could fuel a potential fire. This alleviated the
spread of the smoke through the campus and it was contained to only a few sections of the college.
There were no injuries or damage to the building. Everyone that was evacuated were given the OK to re-enter the building, including students to their dorms, which were unaffected by the smoke.
College maintenance personnel have the air handling systems operating and classroom doors were left open overnight to assist with air flow.
By noon on Wednesday, college officials were saying the building was virtually free of any smoke particles, but did caution anyone with acute breathing issues to perhaps avoid the area for a short time.
“Normalcy will quickly return,” Dr. Keough added.
