Category Archives: Primary / Secondary School

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

South Berwick, ME – Fire in middle school utility room held in check by sprinkler system

Students and staff at Marshwood High School in South Berwick are being taken to Marshwood Middle School after a fire broke out Tuesday morning. The fire was reported in a utility room at 10:30 a.m., according to Regional School Unit 35 business manager Randy Stewart.

Officials said the fire started in a dryer in the room. The utility room is located behind the school gym on the first floor of the building.  The fire caused part of the building to fill with smoke, and it triggered the building’s sprinkler system.

The sprinklers knocked down the flames until firefighters could put out the blaze. Students and staff will remain at the middle school until fire officials give them the OK to return. Officials said it could take several hours to clear smoke from the building.

Students could be allowed to retrieve belongings Tuesday afternoon. No one was hurt. The Maine Fire Marshal’s Office will investigate the cause, which is standard protocol for a fire in a school.  School officials said all high school athletic games, practices, meets and activities have been postponed due to the fire.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Hamden, CT – Sprinkler system keeps fire at high school from spreading

Hamden High School students were briefly evacuated Friday after fire broke out in the nursery/daycare room, fire officials said. No one was injured as a result of the fire, but one teacher did suffer a minor injury attempting to open a window to help clear smoke from the building, a fire official said.

The fire was reported at 7:41 a.m. in the south end of the building. The Hamden High School administration and staff had already started with an orderly evacuation of all students, assisted by both HHS security and Hamden Police Officers, fire officials said in a news release.

The evacuation was taking place as the first HFD apparatus arrived on scene. The entire student body was relocated to the football stadium away from fire department activity. Fire officials said an activated sprinkler head in the nursery helped contain the fire, which was extinguished at 7:53 a.m.

Water damage from the activated sprinkler and fire department suppression was limited to the room or origin and adjacent hallway. The structure was ventilated to remove smoke and the products of combustion.

The entire school was metered by HFD personnel to ensure the safety of the atmosphere, according to the news release. At 8:55 a.m. students were allowed back to class. Hamden Fire Marshal Brian Dolan concluded that the area of fire origin was the stove in the nursery/day care room.

During this event, a second but unrelated fire was reported in an electrical shed adjacent to the Louis Astorino Skating Rink located at 595 Mix Avenue (in the rear of Hamden High School).  This secondary alarm was reported at 8:04 a.m. by the Hamden Public Works Electrician working on scene, and was brought quickly under control by the responding units.

Deputy Fire Marshal Tim Lunn is investigating the fire, which appears to have originated in the electrical panel that controls the outdoor lighting at the facility. There were no injuries at this event.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Port Alberni, BC, Canada – Sprinklers limit spread of fire that started outside elementary school

A fire that broke out in a motor home parked at E.J. Dunn Elementary School just before 7 p.m. today (May 5) caused only minor smoke and water damage to the school building itself. E.J. Dunn will be open tomorrow (May 5).

“It started at the motor home and spread to another car,” said Port Alberni Fire Department Deputy Chief Wes Patterson. Three Port Alberni trucks and one Beaver Creek Volunteer Fire Department truck responded to the blaze, along with one RCMP car and an ambulance.

“There’s water damage from the sprinkler that’s gone off and a little smoke damage inside and then the front entrance doors [are damaged] but all in all it was very lucky. The building and the controls and the sprinkler system did what it was supposed to do which limited the spread of the fire. Structurally the school is fine.”

Patterson said that the motor home belonged to one of the workers at the school but that the cause of the fire is yet to be determined. One person was taken to West Coast General Hospital as a result of the blaze, he added.

“One person was taken to the hospital but not necessarily by B.C. Ambulance. I don’t know the extent of his injuries at this point.”

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Dallas, TX – Automatic sprinkler system contains fire at Texas high school; No injuries

A fire Wednesday at South Oak Cliff High School apparently was started by a burning computer in a classroom, Dallas Fire-Rescue says.

Firefighters were called to the school after classes ended. It appeared that a computer had caught fire and burned some cabinets, filling a third-floor hallway with smoke.

The automatic sprinkler system contained the fire. Fifty to 100 people were at the school for after-school activities. No injuries were reported.

Earlier Wednesday, about 50 students staged a walkout at the school to protest the condition of the building. The students have been complaining for months about leaky roofs, temperature problems and other problems. They want a new building.

It’s projected that the building will receive up to $40 million in improvements under the 2015 bond program.

 

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Enderby, BC, Canada – Arson fire in school bathroom extinguished by sprinkler system

RCMP are continuing their investigation of a fire at AL Fortune Secondary School in Enderby earlier this month. Cpl. Kevin Kwast said the fire has been determined as arson.  “It looks like it was set with toilet paper and Post-it notes,” said Kwast, adding police want to interview a student, but could provide no more details because the student is a minor.

Enderby Fire Chief Kevin Alstad said the fire started in the girl’s washroom and was put out by the sprinkler system. “There was smoke damage throughout the building,” said Alstad. “The washroom was pretty much a write off.”

While the fire was limited to the washroom, smoke forced the evacuation of students and staff. The school was closed for two days before students could return to class

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

West Palm Beach, FL – Fire at high school is kept from spreading by sprinkler system; Fire started in an appliance

A “small” fire at Forest Hill High School Sunday night triggered the sprinkler system and prompted West Palm Beach Fire Department to dispatch crews to the campus. In the end, some classrooms in one building suffered water damage, according to a call that went to parents this morning. Classes will be shuffled to other rooms on the West Palm Beach campus, but school will continue as scheduled.

According to the call, a water mitigation company began the clean up work at midnight and will be there for the coming days. Sounds like the school’s band, chorus and drama classes will be feeling the pinch. The call reports that band and chorus classes will meet instead in the school auditorium.

“Drama will be located in our lobby.” Imagining that’s a reference to the class.

Update: Principal Mary Stratos says that it appears an appliance was the source of the fire that happened Sunday night. That small fire triggered the school’s sprinkler system and also brought out the fire department – and this morning she is singing their praises.

“What an unbelievable group,” Stratos said. “They went far and beyond.” Authorities aren’t sure how or why the appliance caught fire (no detail yet on which appliance, but think coffee machine, microwave or such), but they are reviewing school video for clues, Stratos said.

Most of the damage is water damage that is in a couple of rooms including the band room, where a wall must be removed. Mitigation crews had removed the water by Monday morning, but the smell of smoke and burned plastic still hung in the air, prompted Stratos to close the building for now and relocate classes.

“We’ve put in new charcoal filters and air cleaners, so I just have to wait for those things to do what they’re supposed to do,” Stratos said.

Meanwhile, the school schedule is moving forward including students taking the computer-based Florida Standards Assessments for Engli

 

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Enderby, BC, Canada – Sprinklers activate in suspicious fire at secondary school

It’s back to school Tuesday for high school students at A.L. Fortune Secondary in Enderby following a fire in the girls’ washroom.

About 250 students and teachers were evacuated around noon on Friday after the fire broke out and caused overhead sprinklers to come on. The fire is considered suspicious.

A restoration company was called in immediately after the fire was doused to clean up the mess. However, reparation work forced the school to remain closed on Monday.

“We are pleased to have our students and staff returning to the important learning that takes place at A.L. Fortune every day,” said Carl Cooper, director of instruction.

Not all the classrooms will be open tomorrow. Cooper said one wing of the school will remain closed for a few more days, including a couple of classrooms, for construction of a new wall after asbestos was discovered in the mud used for drywall.

“Since the washroom and one classroom wall were damaged by fire and water, and the mud was no longer encapsulated, an environmental services company, Apex EHS Services, was brought in to assess the hazardous materials,” said Alice Hucul, spokeswoman for School District 83. “The asbestos was removed on Monday to WorkSafe B.C. standards. Air quality was monitored throughout.”

The district has been unable to supply an estimate of damage caused by the fire.

The RCMP continue to investigate the incident.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Doylestown, PA – Fire at high school quickly brought under control by sprinkler system

The Doylestown Fire Company responded to a small fire Wednesday morning at Central Bucks West. No injuries were reported. The Doylestown Fire Company responded to a small fire Wednesday morning at Central Bucks West, the fire company announced on Facebook. The fire was brought under control quickly by a sprinkler, the fire company said via Facebook. No injuries were reported. The fire caused minor damage.

Primary / Secondary School

Mexico, MO – Overnight fire in utility closet at Catholic school extinguished by sprinkler system

At approximately 1 a.m. Wednesday, Mexico Department of Public Safety was called to St. Brendan School on Clark Street. Officers arriving on the scene found light smoke and evidence of the sprinkler system having activated.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that cardboard boxes in a utility room had been ignited by the water heater. The sprinklers had extinguished the small fire. There was very little damage from fire or smoke and there were no injuries. The fire did not cause any damage to the main building of the school.

St. Brendan Principal Kathy Coulson said students would be bringing their lunches for a few days so the school’s kitchen and gymnasium areas, which are near the storage room in which the fire started, could be cleaned of some smoke. Coulson said the school’s sprinkler system will also be replaced in the near future

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Charlotte, NC – Clothes dryer fire in middle school locker room is contained by sprinkler system

Practice made perfect for the student body of Randolph Middle Thursday morning; the school had two fire alarms: the first one was a drill, the second which occurred about an hour later, was real.

“We received additional calls from CMPD we had a fire in a room attached to the gym, flames in the room, the fire was upgraded. Once firefighters arrived on the scene, had light smoke showing,” said Captain Jackie Gilmore of the Charlotte Fire Department.

Firefighters said that some flammable items like cloth or paper had been left on a running drier and caught fire. “This fire did not get into the school, smoke did not get into any part of the structure.”

A working sprinkler system contained the fire, there was no structure damage. “This was part of a locker room to a back hallway, so all the smoke was contained and the fire department checked the building and said we were clear to go back in,” said Principal Brian Bambauer.

Fire officials said the timing of the drill was perfect and that the students learned first hand how important it is to know what to do in an emergency. Two employees suffered minor smoke inhalation and were treated at the school; there were no other injuries.  Investigators have labeled the incident an accident.