The Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate the cause of an early morning explosion at the Gryphon Center arena on the University of Guelph Campus.
On the scene Thursday morning, Guelph Fire Department chief Dave Elloway told GuelphToday no one was injured in the explosion.
“There is some property damage to the building but there was no one in that area at the time of the explosion,” said Elloway. “That’s a good thing.”
Elloway characterized the damage inside the arena to be moderate.
“I can’t comment more on that, I am not a structural engineer,” he added.
He did not say which piece of equipment exploded.
Guelph Fire Department and University of Guelph Fire Safety was still on the scene as of 9:15 a.m. on Thursday. There was no apparent damage to the outside of the arena, which was surrounded in caution tape.
A Fire Prevention Officer from Guelph Fire Department and an official from U of G Fire Safety were seen entering the building as part of the investigation.
Campus police issued an alert at 7:19 a.m. on Thursday asking people to avoid the Gryphon Centre because a piece of equipment had exploded inside the building.
Elloway said he could not comment at this time about the cause of the explosion.
“That’s what we do an investigation for. It would be premature to say anything based on observations,” he said.
Elloway noted investigations of explosions are within the purview of the Office of the Fire Marshal.
“They will be engaged whenever they arrive and start their investigation at that time,” said Elloway.
