A fire at the CBC building in Fredericton on Thursday shut down the facility for the second time in a week and caused substantial damage.

Shortly after 1 p.m. AT, smoke began billowing out of the building on the corner of Regent and Prospect streets.

The blaze forced an evacuation and a halt to broadcasting, but there were no injuries, said Bob Martin, assistant deputy chief and head of operations for Fredericton Fire Department.

Fire crews first used water, but switched to carbon dioxide to put out the blaze because of electrical concerns, he said.

The damage to mechanical, electrical and computer equipment in the basement was "substantial," Martin said.

"That stuff's expensive," he told CBC.ca Thursday.

Last Thursday, a fire in the basement of the building forced the cancellation of the local morning show. The cause of that blaze has yet to be determined.

CBC spokeswoman Wendy Jones said the most recent fire started in the basement of the building.

"I can tell you that this is a more serious fire in terms of damage than the first one, and that's not good news," Jones told CBC News. 

"We've had to cut off all the power to the building this time around. We did not have to go that route the first time."

It's unclear what the cause of the latest fire might be, but investigators are on the scene, Martin said.

Thursday's radio programming will continue out of CBC Halifax and CBC Saint John, Jones said.

New Brunswick television viewers will receive a 10-minute news broadcast from CBC Saint John, then Halifax will take over.

On Friday, CBC Fredericton radio listeners will hear information morning programming from Saint John, and news from Saint John and Halifax, Jones said.