Emergency services at the scene of the fire at the City of Joondalup on Tuesday night.
Camera IconEmergency services at the scene of the fire at the City of Joondalup on Tuesday night. Credit: Supplied/Supplied, Tyler Brown.

City of Joondalup council meeting evacuated after fire alarm scare

Tyler BrownJoondalup Times

CITY of Joondalup mayor, councillors staff and residents were evacuated from the council chamber last night after a smoke and fire alarm was activated.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services received a call at 7.22pm after the alarm was triggered during the City’s council briefing.

A Joondalup spokesman said smoke had been detected in a computer room.

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“The meeting for tonight will no longer be held for your safety and the safety of the building to allow fire and emergency services to undertake their work,” he said.

Five fire units as well as Western Power attended the scene to try find the source.

A DFES spokeswoman said the cause was an electrical fault.

“There was a burnt out part of a distribution board,” she said.

“They checked the area and made it safe and left it in the hands of those in the building.”

The fire trucks left the scene by 8.40pm.

She said the damage was estimated at $5000.

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Camera IconImage Credit: Supplied/Tyler Brown.

A response from the City of Joondalup said there was no damage to the City’s building or associated infrastructure such as IT system and the City’s operations would not be affected.

However, as a precaution, the City’s citizenship ceremony to be held in the council chambers tonight will be moved to the Joondalup Reception Centre.

A long-time employee said it was the first time in his 20-year career that he had experienced an evacuation during a meeting of council.