Greetings! You may have seen a post on Facebook earlier today about a minor fire at the Jr./Sr. High School this afternoon. This post will provide a quick update on today's situation.
While working on the roof replacement project on the roof of the 3rd floor of the Jr./Sr. High School, workers from Service Roofing inadvertently ignited a wooden structural member surrounding the window of the south classroom on the 4th floor. Flames traveled upward alongside the window and spread about 2 feet into the classroom's true ceiling (above the false ceiling) before the fire was extinguished.
Initially, roof workers used fire extinguishers to control all visible flames until the Reinbeck Fire Department arrived. Firefighters applied water to stop the smoldering and ensure the flames did not return. They also removed a section of the classroom wall and a section 4th-floor roof above the classroom to determine the extent of the damage and ensure the fire had not spread farther into the building than was immediately evident. Of course, there was some minor water damage in the affected classroom and directly below on the 3rd floor as well.
The 4th-floor classroom that was affected was unoccupied at the time, but back-to-school registration was taking place on the first floor in the cafeteria and an internship meeting involving a few students was taking place in the library on the 3rd floor. The building was evacuated when the fire alarm sounded. Registration was moved to the elementary building. While the building has been cleared for re-entry, registration will continue at the elementary school location until 6:00 p.m.
A professional cleaning and restoration company will be onsite tomorrow to mitigate smoke and water damage and thoroughly clean the 4th-floor classroom. Service Roofing will repair the section of roof that was removed as a precaution yet today so the building will be water-tight overnight. They will also conduct repairs to the ceiling section and the area around the window as they continue to finish the roofing project. We expect that everything will be back to normal within a few days.
A few pictures have been provided with this post to give you an idea of the damage. The upper-lefthand picture shows the 4th-floor window where the fire originated. (Your superintendent isn't crazy about heights but yes, I did climb up there with the firefighters and roof workers to see things first-hand.)
I would like to thank the awesome volunteer members of the Reinbeck Fire Department for their quick response. This community is blessed! Thanks also to the Grundy Center Fire Department for sending some "just in case" backup firefighters and equipment. I'm pleased to say that our fire protection system did its job (including notifying building occupants AND automatically calling the fire department) and the damages are minimal. Most importantly, EVERYONE IS FINE and school operations will only be minimally affected.
I hope this communication helps answer any questions you might have about the incident. It's my hope that this update will be your "official" source of information, as we all know that rumors can and do spread quickly. Contact the superintendent's office with any specific questions you may have. We're looking forward to having the teachers back at school in the very near future as well as the students' first day back on August 23rd!
Mr. Hill, Superintendent
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