Category Archives: Primary / Secondary School

El Paso, TX – Sprinkler system activated for arson fire at school; No injuries reported

The Ysleta Independent School District is working with police investigators after footage of Sunday night’s fire was at Pebble Hills Elementary school circulated on social media.

Around 7:15 p.m. Sunday, fire crews responded to the fire.

Smoke was reportedly coming out of the school building and the fire alarms were activated, according to EPFD spokesman Enrique Duenas-Aguilar.

A small fire was found inside a room at the school.

The sprinkler system inside contained the fire from spreading, according to Duenas-Aguilar.

No injuries were reported.

Footage taken of individuals running out of the school surfaced on social media.

Footage of a table inside the school on fire was captured as well.

KFOX14 spoke to Pebble Hills Elementary school parents regarding the incident.

The majority of parents were concerned with how the students were able to get inside and expressed concern over the safety of the campus.

“My big concern is how they got in the building, because I thought the doors were closed and locked so that kind of scares me a little bit about my kids safety,” said Naomi Fierro.

Another parent said students should be held accountable and their discipline should begin at home.

“For one, I think it starts at home, if the kids are acting up this way I think the parents need to maybe tighten the grip on their kids or just their parenting styles need to change, maybe the kids are hanging out with the wrong crowd,” said Emily Ray.

Glen Cove Elementary School was also vandalized on Sunday.

El Paso police are also looking into that crime.

Heavy vandalism in some classrooms and hallways, and windows were damaged, according to Ysleta ISD.

The school was able to open Monday for instruction.

It’s unknown at this time if the vandalism and fire are related.

Atlanta, GA – Sprinkler system activated for kitchen fire at school; No injuries reported

Students at Lovett school were promptly evacuated Monday morning after a fire broke out in the kitchen of the Lower School building.

No injuries were reported and sprinkler systems deployed automatically, helping to bring down the flames. 

Lower School students and teachers have since been relocated to the Hendrix-Chenault Theater as fire officials work to identify the cause of the fire.

Atlanta Fire Rescue says they have extinguished a fire in the kitchen of The Lovett School.

In a tweet, they say they are staying on scene for further investigation.

The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department tweeted Monday morning that it was responding to The Lovett School because of “heavy smoke coming from the structure.”

Details are very limited at this time, but Atlanta Fire Rescue says all children at the school have been evacuated as of 9:17 a.m.

CBS46 has a crew on the way to the scene and will provide new information as soon as we get it.

Hardeeville, SC – Sprinkler system activated for commercial dryer fire at middle school

A fire that began inside a commercial dryer Nov. 29 led to the evacuation of Hardeeville Ridgeland-Middle School and Hardeeville Elementary School as firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, according to officials.

“A dryer in the athletic room at Hardeeville-Ridgeland Middle School caught fire,” the Jasper County School District said in a statement. “Our sprinkler system successfully extinguished the fire. Our teachers and staff followed our fire evacuation protocols and evacuated all students from Hardeeville Elementary School and Hardeeville-Ridgeland Middle School, safely and orderly, and all parents were informed immediately.”

The Hardeeville Fire Department responded around 12:52 p.m., Assistant Fire Chief Joey Rowell said. Rowell said the school had been evacuated quickly and everyone was outside and accounted for when firefighters arrived. 

“The fire was in the rear of the school in the laundry area near the gymnasium,” Rowell said. “The dryer, which is a commercial dryer, had gotten too hot with some uniform equipment on the inside of it. The sprinklers in the school held the fire in check until firefighters could arrive and put out remaining hot spots. Without sprinklers, it could have gotten a lot worse with smoke.”

Rowell said the school had drainage systems in the floor of the laundry room area, which also helped. He said most of the damage was to the dryer and no damage estimate was immediately available. 

“The fire department remained on scene until all systems could be returned to normal around 5 p.m.,” Rowell said. “This was good work by all, including the school district and the fire department.”

Spartanburg, SC – Sprinkler system activated for fire at middle school

The Westview Fairforest Fire Department is responding to a fire at Fairforest Middle School in Spartanburg County, according to Spartanburg County dispatch.

Chief Communications Officer of Spartanburg District 6 Cynthia Robinson says the school experienced a small office fire this evening near the school’s planetarium. 

Robinson says the fire alarm and sprinkler system was activated in the area, at around 7:20 this evening with city and county fire officials quickly responding to the scene. 

The fire has been contained to one area of the building, and clean up is currently underway, says Robinson.

She also says no one was in the building at the time of the fire. 

School will be held on a regular schedule tomorrow. 

Portland, ME – Fire at high school contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire that broke out early Sunday morning on the third floor of Westbrook High School was contained by an internal sprinkler system and by firefighters who scaled ladders to gain access to the classroom where it originated.

The sprinkler system at the unoccupied Stroudwater Street school activated, preventing the fire from spreading from the classroom to the rest of the wing, the Westbrook Fire Department said in a news release posted on its Facebook page.

Fire crews manning Engine 4 encountered heavy smoke and fire coming from the third floor upon their arrival. The fire was reported at 4:59 a.m. Firefighters entered the building and were able to quickly locate the source of the fire.

Engine 4 positioned the truck ladder to connect to the third floor. A hose line was stretched across the ladder and crews on the inside used the hose to bring the fire under control. Photos posted on Facebook show two exterior classroom windows that had to be broken to gain entry. The exterior walls of the classroom were charred by the heat.

An investigation revealed that the cause of the was electrical in nature, likely due to the improper use of an extension cord with a window air conditioner, according to the fire department.

The fire department received mutual aid from the South Portland Fire Department, the Portland Fire Department and the Gorham Fire Department. Falmouth and Scarborough sent units to cover the city’s fire stations.

No injuries were reported.

Benzonia, MI – Sprinkler system activated for fire at high school

The cause of a fire at Benzie Central High School that caused smoke and fire damage to several rooms has been determined.

According to Amiee Erfourth, superintendent of Benzie Central Schools, a report from the fire marshal stated spontaneous combustion of chemicals used for cleaning started a fire in a maintenance area.

“We think linseed oil was partly to blame,” Erfourth said. “It’s not a chemical we usually use, but it was used to clean some cutting boards. It has a low flashpoint.”

Erfourth said any time linseed oil is used in the future, any paper towels or rags used with it will be stored in water.

Smoke and water damaged flooring and cabinets in the maintenance room and several adjacent rooms.

“We’ll need new flooring in the band room and maintenance room, and we’ll have to repaint the maintenance room,” Erfourth said. “We’ll have to completely re-do the life skills room by replacing the flooring and cabinetry and painting the wall. We’re hoping to have it all done by the time school starts, but that will depend on supply timeline for flooring and cabinetry.”

Erfourth is still working with insurance adjustors to come up with the total cost of repairs. The school is currently working with flooring and cabinetry companies and taking bids for the work needed.

The Benzonia Fire Department responded to an alarm at around 5 p.m. on June 30 at the high school. At first they did not see a fire, but after moving to the back of the building, they saw a fire in a maintenance area. The school’s automatic sprinkler system had put most of the fire out. After the fire department finished putting out the fire, they worked to drive smoke out of the building.

The Frankfort and Homestead fire departments also responded to the call and helped vent smoke and clean up excess water as well.

Webster Springs, WV – Sprinkler system activated for fire at elementary school; No injuries reported

The Webster Springs Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire Wednesday evening at Webster Springs Elementary School.

According to 911 officials, the call came in just before 7:45 p.m. for a structure fire at Webster Springs Elementary School. The Webster Springs Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene and was able to quickly put out the fire.

Officials said the staff was stocking supplies to start the summer school home economic class when the stove burner was turned on accidentally. Webster County Office of Emergency Management Director, Richard Rose, also said the fire was accidental.

“A stove top burner got turned on accidentally when staff was stocking supplies to start the summer school home economics class today. There were no staff in the building at the time a passerby noticed water running out of the building and smell of smoke. Sprinkler head activated and kept the fire from spreading. Upon arrival the remaining flames were quickly extinguished with a water can. We remained on scene to clear the building of smoke,” said Rose.

No injuries have been reported.

Plainfield, IL – Arson fire at middle school extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire at a Plainfield Middle School ended with an arson investigation. It was at 8:11am that the Plainfield Fire Protection District and the Plainfield Police Department were called to Ira Jones Middle School in regards to a fire alarm. Upon arriving personnel was able to located and isolate the fire to a first-floor bathroom and was extinguished by the sprinkler system. During the investigation into the cause of the fire, investigators identified a fourteen-year-old male student as the individual who started the fire. During an interview, he admitted, to using a lighter to ignite a paper towel within the dispenser. He believed he extinguished the fire, left the restroom and returned to his class. A short time later, the fire alarm was activated.

No injures were reported as a result of the fire. Students and staff were briefly relocated to C.W. Avery Family YMCA and at the discretion of school personnel, the students were reunited with their parents. There was a significant amount of water and smoke damager to the school according the Police , which has resulted in its closing. It will remain closed until further notice. Additionally, students will be in remote learning until further notice.

Criminal charges are pending as the investigation is still active.

Sevierville, TN – Sprinkler system activated for fire at primary school; No injuries reported

Sevierville Primary School had to be evacuated briefly Friday afternoon after a small fire caused smoke to fill the area around the school’s kitchen.

According to Sevier County Schools, an appliance issue caused the smoke around 12:15 p.m. The city of Sevierville said fire crews arrived to find a basket of clothes sitting on top of a dryer on fire.

The principal evacuated the school. The Sevierville Fire Department and maintenance crews were called in to respond.

The city said the automatic sprinkler system activated and was able to extinguish most of the fire, and crews put out the rest. The area around the dryer suffered minor damage. 

No one was hurt in the incident. SCS said students returned to class about 20 to 30 minutes later.

The school system said it is sending a letter home to parents with more details about the incident.

Waco, TX – Bathroom fire at high school knocked down by fire sprinkler

Waco High School was evacuated for a short time after a fire was reported in one of the building’s restrooms.

Waco Fire Department units were sent to the scene shortly after the noon hour and found that the fire had not extended beyond the one room.

Waco ISD spokesman Joshua Wucher said the automatic sprinkler system knocked down the fire.

There was some minor smoke damage to the restroom, but Wucher said that none of the students or staff were in any real danger.

Students were allowed back into the building a short time later with classes resuming.

An investigation was underway into the source of the fire.