Yukon College’s Ayamdigut campus in Whitehorse shut down and its main building was evacuated because of a water main break this morning.

In order to fix the rupture, the water supply to the 26-year-old building must be shut off, leaving it without a functioning sprinkler system or plumbing.

College spokesman Michael Vernon said the school would remain closed for the rest of the day for this reason, but the break should be fixed in time for classes tomorrow.

Today’s and this evening’s classes are cancelled.

Vernon advised students to check the Yukon College website for updates on its reopening.

Staff were alerted to the break at about 10:45 a.m.

Contractors have just begun work on the college’s new Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining, Vernon said.

They were digging an exploratory trench to determine pipe size for the relocation of a fire hydrant behind the main building.

In the process, a rock was dislodged and struck the water pipe, causing it to burst. This occurred outside, Vernon said, so the reason for the evacuation was not flooding but the necessary water shut-off.

Quickly, college staff began emergency procedures: posting signs on all doors alerting the public to the closure, emailing and texting students, sending the news out via social media, and having designated fire wardens move through the building, clearing it out.

“It’s a multi-pronged approach,” said Vernon.

“Each area has a fire warden that basically is responsible for clearing that area and they can’t evacuate themselves until they know that every single person is out of the building.”

They check classrooms, washrooms and office spaces, “making a visual clarification of the fact that their area is completely clear,” Vernon said.

This process began at 11:10 a.m., and when he spoke to the Star about 35 minutes later, the evacuation was just about complete.

Vernon didn’t have numbers on how many people were cleared out, but said the college has 1,200 students registered this term and 500 to 600 staff members.

Fewer than that many students were on campus today, he said, though this is one of the college’s busy days.

The Nakwaye Ku Daycare and Yukon Native Language Centre are also in the main building.

Vernon said Whitehorse Transit’s manager has been advised, so bus drivers can inform students getting on the bus that the college has closed.

“We don’t often have these kinds of emergencies, so it’s not something we’ve had a lot of practice at, but it’s a fairly thorough procedure,” he said.

Staff he talked to said they couldn’t recall the college having to shut down for an emergency like this before.

Buildings not affected are the Yukon Archives, Yukon Arts Centre, the Seniors Residence building, the New Family Residence Building and Yukon Research Centre, which are not connected to the main building.