Fire prompts evacuation of UCN residence in Thompson
150 students from northern Manitoba live in campus building
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 3:19 PM CT
CBC News
A fire Tuesday forced students out of their residence at University College of the North in Thompson.
The blaze was in a three-storey building on the UCN campus, about 750 kilometres north of Winnipeg. The residence contains 35 suites as well as labs and classrooms.
There were no injuries resulting from the fire, which started just before 8 a.m. It was extinguished by 9:30 a.m.
'There's 42 students that were living in residence and so it's impacted them in a very huge way.'— Denise Henning, UCN president
Denise Henning, UCN president, said her staff is now scrambling to find places for the students to stay because there's a serious housing shortage in Thompson.
"It has very, very much affected our students. There's 42 students that were living in residence and so it's impacted them in a very huge way," she said. "But we're very, very blessed and fortunate that we've had no injuries."
Henning said a critical incident team is also working with the students to provide emotional support and ensure they have all of their necessary supplies.
"The fire marshals are in the building. We cannot allow anybody [else] in the building, so we want to make sure that they have the things that they need so that wherever we put them for emergency housing that they can rest as well as possible," she said, adding the UCN bookstore will make sure replacement texts are available.
Classes in the building have been cancelled until further notice, UCN officials said.
Many students stood in a parking lot not far from the residence as firefighters doused the flames, said Frank Bayer, a witness who was at the scene at around 8:30 a.m.
He said thick, white smoke was billowing from the roof of the building, which is one of four in the area. The structures are not extremely close together, and it didn't appear there was ever any danger of the fire spreading, Bayer said.
Fire Chief Ian Thompson said one suite in the affected residence was almost completely destroyed and another damaged. He said there is also smoke damage in the rest of the building.
Thompson said investigators are still trying to determine how the fire started.
In addition to the Thompson campus, UCN has a campus in The Pas and also offers college and university programs at regional centres in about 14 communities throughout the north.
