West Newbury

Video shows robotics team putting out fire at West Newbury school

A fire on Saturday closed Pentucket Regional High School Monday and Tuesday

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Shocking video shows the moment a fire broke out at a Massachusetts school this weekend, and members of the robotics team putting out the flames.

Saturday's fire at Pentucket Regional High School in West Newbury caused classes to be canceled Monday and Tuesday. The school serves students from West Newbury, Groveland and Merrimac.

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Robotics instructor Mo Elhelw jumped into action, spraying the fire near the wing of the stage with the help of other robotics team mentors and some students, who were getting ready for their competition next month.

"At this point, the students were being directed out of the building, while the adults tended to the fire, but the students really stepped up in directing the adults on where to find the fire extinguishers," Elhelw said.

About a dozen students evacuated the building as the fire spread from a garbage bin, with saw dust inside, that caught fire after theater program members cut wood for their upcoming show.

They already left before the fire started around 3 p.m.

"The trash can melted. There was a table next to it that subsequently caught on fire," Elhelw said. "It was a little surreal. I couldn't believe what had happened, but, you know, I pretty quickly felt an immense sense of pride in the students the way that they handled this. The way they partnered with their mentors."

Elhelw said the fire alarms started going off shortly after the video was taken, and they sprayed the fire with five extinguishers for about five to 10 minutes before first responders came and hosed down any hot spots.

No one was hurt in the fire, school officials said.

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