Staff at the General Post Office in Saint John’s went home early yesterday after an electrical surge caused smoke in the building.
Around midday, staff were asked to evacuate the building after some persons reporting smelling smoke.
OBSERVER media spoke with Postmaster General Algernon Gomes who said that staff were called into an emergency meeting, after which they were sent home.
“Because of health and safety reasons, I chose to send home staff pending the investigation of the public works department and the fire department,” he said.
According to Gomes, this is the second time for the week that this incident has occurred; the first instance having taken place on Monday.
During the first incident, the public works department investigated the matter and submitted its findings to the Postmaster General.
“We had that surge in electricity on Monday and I notified the public works department. They came and did an investigation…on what was the challenge and submitted their report,” he said.
However, Gomes said the problem will not hinder service to the public today, Thursday, as post office staff will be back on the job.