Six Students and Teacher Flee Classroom

By Greg Sowinski, The Lima News, Ohio

Feb. 9–ELIDA — Six fourth-grade students and their teacher in a gifted class at Elida Elementary School fled their modular classroom Thursday after smelling smoke. The modular building that houses two classrooms had a fire above the drop ceiling, possibly caused by a malfunctioning heating system. The heating unit in the unattached modular building was worked on earlier in the day and repaired, Elida Superintendent Don Diglia said. But Diglia added that it was too early to tell if the heater caused the fire. The heater was worked on after it had trouble maintaining a comfortable temperature, Diglia said. Elida fire Assistant Chief Scott Fessler said a cause for the fire has not been determined. Diglia said he will meet with fire officials and insurance agents in the hopes of determining a cause. “I want to know more about it because I want to know if it affects any of our other modulars,” he said. Getting away from the modular classrooms was one of the goals the district had for a levy that voters rejected last November. The district will ask again this May. After smelling smoke, the teacher took the students, left the building and the fire department was called, Diglia said. Classrooms at the south end of the elementary school were evacuated as a precautionary measure and because of the strong smell of smoke, Diglia said. No injuries were reported. The 12:51 p.m. fire caused an estimated $15,000 in damage, Fessler said. That loss will be covered by insurance, Diglia said. Firefighters ripped into the walls and roof of the structure to fight the fire. The other classroom in the building cannot be used since the heating unit was damaged and the building would be without heat, Diglia said. It was too early to tell whether the building could be remodeled or would have to be replaced, Diglia said. In the meantime, a computer lab will be converted into a classroom to allow the gifted program to continue. The Title I programming will be held in offices at the elementary school. School officials in those offices were temporarily moved to the stage in the cafeteria, Diglia said. The elementary school has four modular buildings. “We are fortunate it wasn’t one of the others we have a full classroom in,” Diglia said. You can comment on this story at www.limaohio.com.

—–

Copyright (c) 2007, The Lima News, Ohio

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.