On their third day of occupancy of a new building at 125 Chancellors Way, employees of NSF Canada Agricultural Certification Company were evacuated. Smoke entered the building after a minor welding incident at around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
While the interior of the building is complete, the exterior is undergoing finishing cladding and masonry work. A welding operation on the exterior started a small section of insulation to smoulder, Guelph Fire Department deputy chief John Osborne said at the scene. That caused some smoke to permeate the interior. Four fire crews were dispatched to the scene.
“Firefighters opened up the exterior wall and found the source,” Osborne said.
Lise Smedmor, NSF Canada marketing and communication manager, indicated that about 50 employees had to leave the building. They gathered in two groups close to the new building. Most of the building’s work crew was also moved off the site while fire crews did their work.
The evacuation was not expected to last for more than a few hours.
Tom Lammer, president of Lammer Group of Companies, is the project’s builder.
“It caused a bit of smoke and that’s what alerted the crew there to make a call to make sure that the right forces were there to deal with it,” Lammer said of the welding mishap. “It was a relatively small event and they are just doing their due diligence to make sure it’s fully contained and there is nothing hiding in the bit of cavity there.”
He expected the site to be restored within an hour. He said there are “small finishing details” remaining on the exterior of the building, work that should be complete within two weeks.
NSF is a global leader in food safety, training, quality and technology solutions in the food and beverage industry.
