An electrical fire occurred outside the Merlin House Residence at Fanshawe College, rendering the building inhabitable for multiple hours. The fire was caused by a transformer that has an electrical short circuit, which caused the electrical box outside the residence to burst into smoke. The fire caused a power outage in the residence and the M building for almost 6 hours. Due to the remarkable coordinated efforts between London Hydro and Fanshawe forces, power was back in Merlin just before 2:00am. Numerous fire companies were on scene along with the college’s Facilities Operations and Sustainability department, their maintenance crew and campus security and special constables were also assisting with the situation. Residents were asked to evacuate and pile into the Oasis cafe on campus after waiting outside in the rain for a while. The building was cleared for re-entry just after 9:30pm. Toilets, kitchen sinks, bathrooms, showers were all unavailable and caused a problem. Fanshawe sent out a notice stating that all affected classes on the night of April 6th were canceled and to exit from class immediately. All power has been restored and classes on April 7th are proceeding as per usual.
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