Fire sends Gatineau DND workers home
Some of the up to 1,800 employees affected will move to other buildings
The National Defence Department is trying to determine what to do with as many as 1,800 of its employees after a fire closed the Louis Saint Laurent Building in Gatineau on Thursday.
The department is the main tenant for the building at 555 de la Carrière Blvd.
One firefighter suffered minor injuries after fire broke out early Thursday.
First responders arrived at about 7 a.m. to deal with the blaze that started on the building ’s sixth floor.
No employees were injured, DND spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier said.
The facility is used by both civilian public servants and military personnel. It is also home to the department’s procurement branch.
“Employees in that building were either relocated or sent home for the day, though any longer-term impact has yet to be determined,” Le Bouthillier said.
Employees were likely to find out by Friday morning whether they were to go to work or to other locations.
“Business continuity mechanisms, such as email lists and telephone trees, are in place to inform employees of developments,” Le Bouthillier noted.
“In the immediate term, noncritical staff will be asked to stay home (Friday). In some cases, employees may have the ability to telework.”
Other employees will be relocated to DND buildings, but specific details on those moves have yet to be released.
The fire comes amid a proposed $5-million renovation of the facility.
In March, a notice went out on the federal government’s contracting site for firms interested in working on what was being called an “extensive rehabilitation” of the building.
The work, which was to have been completed by June 30, is to include improvements to the sprinkler and fire alarm system as well as fireproofing work.
In the fall of 2009, the Conservative government announced that upgrades were to be done on the building’s sprinkler system and metal fire doors. It is unclear whether that work was done.
The fire was declared under control at about 10:45 a.m. Thursday, and a number of investigations were underway. Parts of the upper-floor frontage of the building collapsed.
Police said bus service through the area and bike paths close to the building have been closed until the structure has been deemed safe. Police advised travellers to find alternative routes home and to avoid the area.
In a statement, Public Services and Procurement Canada said the building would remain closed until further notice.
Staff were being allowed, however, to remove their vehicles from the interior parking garage.
The facility was built in 1985 and contains 40,000 square metres of office space, according to the federal government.
The DND does not expect the fire damage to affect ongoing military procurement programs.
The procurement branch also operates from another building nearby.
Business continuity mechanisms, such as email lists and telephone trees, are in place to inform employees of developments.
“While we continue to assess the impact, we do not foresee this fire to have a major effect on the defence program,” Le Bouthillier said.
The DND plans to eventually relocate many of its employees in the Ottawa area to the former Nortel campus, on Carling Avenue.
However, even with that move, it had planned to continue to operate from the Louis Saint Laurent Building and at several other locations in Ottawa and Gatineau.