
A teacher and a police officer helped extinguish a fire at Pentucket Regional High School in West Newbury, Massachusetts, on Saturday afternoon.
School officials said in a statement released Sunday that the school will be closed on Monday and Tuesday to ensure the safety of all students and staff. Elementary schools in the district will operate as scheduled. An update will be provided Monday regarding the status of reopening, but officials said they are optimistic that normal operations can resume soon, with plans for a potential make-up day.
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The fire broke out just before 3 p.m. Saturday, when the West Newbury Fire Department responded to a fire alarm activation at the school indicating a fire in the building. When they arrived, firefighters found a fire on the stage in the back of the school auditorium.
A West Newbury police officer and a Pentucket teacher who was working with the school's robotics team elsewhere in the building put out the fire using a fire extinguisher. Firefighters helped water down hot spots to ensure that the fire was fully extinguished. Crews then worked to ventilate the building to remove any remaining smoke.
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“We are incredibly grateful to our robotics team and their mentors for their quick thinking and bravery,” Pentucket Principal Brenda Erhardt said in a statement. “Their dedication to safety and preparedness truly paid off in a critical moment.”
About 20 students from the robotics team were in the building at the time of the fire. They were evacuated and released to their families.
No one was injured, but the fire left smoke damage in the auditorium and nearby cafeteria. Cleanup crews began work Saturday night and continued their efforts throughout the day on Sunday to remove smoke odor and residue.
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Mutual aid was provided by the Groveland, Newbury, Merrimac, and Georgetown fire departments and Atlantic Ambulance. The Newbury Fire Department covered West Newbury during the incident.
The West Newbury building and electrical inspectors and the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal’s Office also responded to the scene.
The origin and cause of the fire remain under investigation by the West Newbury police and fire departments, the Groveland Fire Department and the State Fire Marshal's Office. But a preliminary investigation indicated that the fire was accidental and started in a trash barrel used to dispose of sawdust from stage work done earlier in the day. The sawdust might have smoldered for some time before igniting.