A power outage in the Fredericton area caused around 16,000 residents, including the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University, to lose electricity, according to NB Power.
The outage started at approximately 7 p.m. and affected most of the city’s south side.
It is unknown at this time what caused the outage.
Gaia Noseworthy, a fifth-year computer science student at UNB, said they were on the fourth floor of Sir Leonard Tilley Hall tutoring when the power went out.
“Fifteen minutes later, someone walked in the room, saying, ‘hey, we’re evacuating,’” said Noseworthy.
Heather Campbell, the associate director of communications at UNB, confirmed in an email there were reports of a fire at Tilley Hall shortly after the power went out, but clarified it was exhaust from a diesel generator that kicked in.
“The Fredericton Fire Department was on site and there is no cause for alarm,” she wrote.
University officials also reported a fire at 8:41 a.m. Thursday in one of the elevators at Tilley Hall. In a separate email, Campbell confirmed an issue with one of the building’s elevators and said crews evacuated the building.
“Once the source of the smoke was identified, and extinguished, the fire department gave the all-clear to re-enter the building,” wrote Campbell.
“This elevator will be shut down until it can be repaired. However, there is another elevator that is accessible.”
This evening there were reports of a fire at Tilley Hall, however it was just exhaust from a diesel generator that came on due to the power outage. The Fredericton Fire Department was on site and there is no cause for alarm.
— UNB Fredericton (@UNBFredericton) October 13, 2022
