Young moose smashes through glass door, takes tour of Fort St. John office

Staff at School District 60 had an unexpected visitor late Wednesday afternoon when a moose crashed through a glass door and went on a tour of their board offices in Fort St. John.

"We just heard a loud crash," said the district's superintendent Stephen Petrucci. "We all came out to the reception area and sure enough there was a juvenile moose there kind of shaking itself off and there's glass everywhere."

No one saw the moose crash through the door, but the superintendent guesses it jumped over the wooden handle and through the glass.

He says the moose then made its way to the other side of the building, heading toward the boardroom.

Most of the couple dozen staff members working at the time exited the building to avoid the animal, while some stayed safe by remaining in their offices. RCMP and conservation officers were called in to respond.

"People did remain calm," said Petrucci. "We're certainly used to seeing wild animals around but nobody's ever heard of this happening before, that's for sure."

The moose wandered around the building for about five minutes, walking through the learning centre, before Petrucci was able to lure it out through an open door.

"I don't know how to call a moose," he said. "But I sort of called it like a dog and it ran out."

Petrucci said the young moose was bigger than a calf but didn't have any antlers and was definitely not full grown. He says a conservation officer speculated the animal might have wanted to go off on its own at this time of year.

District staff were able to track the moose's bloody hoof prints throughout the building, but other than the glass door no significant damage occurred.

Petrucci says the door was already repaired when he showed up at work Thursday morning.