A fire at the Southern PreK building on Monday, February 9, 2004, gave some students unscheduled vacation days.
The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Shirley Linder, Quill Editor
A fire at the Southern PreK building on Monday, February 9, 2004, gave some students unscheduled vacation days.
First year teacher Jessica Gittings had taken the 18 PreK students from the building at 3:20 p.m. to their buses at the high school.
At 3:35 she returned to the building to get her belongings, when she seen smoke coming from the building. Not being certain what was happening she opened the door, at which time a window blew out.
She reported the fire to the unit office and Principal Dale Buss and the fire department were called.
Principal Buss, using a fire extinguisher, put out the blaze, through the window.
When firemen arrived they tore some of the ceiling off to make sure the hot spots were under control.
The refrigerator has been determined to be the cause of the fire.
The building was extensively damaged by the smoke and heat. It was so hot in the building it melted the venetian blinds on the window as well as the hands on a clock.
The building was insured.
School board members met on Tuesday morning to begin the process of decision making.
There will be no classes for the PreK students the rest of this week and Monday is a vacation day.
On Tuesday, February 17th, PreK students will report as normal and classes will be held at a location yet to be determined.
The board was meeting again on Tuesday evening (10th) to try and locate a place for the class to finish the school year.
Sharri Richard, secretary, was very appreciative of the fire department for responding quickly and doing an excellent job.
