Fire forces evacuation of Thunder Bay polling station

A fire at a polling station in Valley Central Public School in the Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding forced voters into the parking lot Monday night.

The alarm sounded at around 8:30 p.m. (ET), which meant voters still had an hour to cast their ballots, said Tom McCuaig, the Elections Canada returning officer for Thunder Bay-Rainy River.

Poll officials quickly evacuated the building, said McCuaig, and managed to get all the ballot boxes and other materials outside.

Once the fire department arrived, voters and workers were told they could not return inside, he said, adding that since there were still people wishing to cast a ballot, the polling station workers improvised.

"It was a nice evening," said McCuaig.

"They opened up their car doors. One of them had the ballot box, handling the ballots in one. The polling clerk was striking off electors on the list in the other car."

The count was conducted at the Thunder Bay-Rainy River returning office, said McCuaig.

Security was not a concern, he said because the returning officer maintained control of the ballots.

"It seems everybody was happy with the way things were operating, so we let it carry on," said McCuaig.

Nothing like this has happened in any of the seven previous federal elections McCuaig has worked, he added.

In a written release Monday night, Lakehead Public Schools said the school will be open for classes Tuesday morning. 

The small fire was extinguished by the local fire department and the building was then aired out with fans, the statement explained.