Winnipeg police said one person has been taken to hospital following an explosion in front of Winnipeg Law Courts Wednesday afternoon.

The incident happened around 2 p.m. on York Avenue and Kennedy Street, when a small explosion occurred in front of the courthouse, eventually turning into a fire, police said. 

“There’s residue of an explosion and a fire, and I believe that from my understanding that’s all that remains of the scene,” said Cst. Rob Carver.

Witnesses in the area at the time said the explosion was loud and followed by a lot of smoke. 

"I heard a really loud bang, it sounded like a dumpster being dropped or something, it was very loud and we looked over and there was just this huge puff of white smoke, it was like as large as the statue there, it was quite big,” said Noelle Blanchard, who heard explosion from her office.

"I gotta say it did scare me," said Elizabeth Boille, who heard the explosion from across the street. "I saw smoke and then some Sherriff guy came and put it out with a fire extinguisher.”

Carver said they are not concerned about any secondary explosion.

"There's always speculation that certainly in this day and age, that this could be the precursor to something else, but certainly at this point in time we don't have any evidence to support that," he said.

WPS has not made any arrests or identified any suspects at this time.

The roads surrounding the courthouse have reopened. Police said their investigation is ongoing as they determine what caused the explosion.

With files from Jon Hendricks and Cheryl Holmes.