UPDATE – The school district has confirmed school will be in session Tuesday morning.
The fire is being investigated by RCMP
A damage estimate is not available.
UPDATE: According to the School District 83 Facebook page, classes at A.L. Fortune Secondary school in Enderby will be cancelled on Monday, April 11th.
A fire forced an evacuation of the school on Friday.
A restoration company is working to clean air ducts and all affected surfaces to ensure that the school is safe for students and staff to return.
The school is expected to reopen on Tuesday.
ENDERBY — UPDATE 6:30 p.m. – Fire Chief Kevin Alstad says Friday’s fire at A.L. Fortune Secondary appears to have been deliberately set.
Alstad says no one was hurt in the fire but the women’s washroom was extensively damaged in the fire.
RCMP are investigating.
with notes from Doris Maria Bregolisse
Friday afternoon:
Not long after students smelled smoke and alerted their teacher, an Enderby secondary school was evacuated Friday afternoon.
The principal of A.L. Fortune says the fire alarm was pulled by the teacher around 12 p.m. after reports of a burning smell and crackling sounds.
“Immediately we evacuated the building and called the police and the fire department so they came in, and thankfully, the fire had already been extinguished when they got there,” says principal Gene Doray.
Doray says the flames were put out by the school’s sprinkler system.
“There was a fair bit of damage and water around the floor and things like that so we needed to have the students return home for the afternoon,” says Doray.
A damage assessment is underway as is an investigation into the fire cause.
“How significant the damage is, we are not certain,” says Doray.
He adds it has not yet been determined whether students will return to school Monday.
He says students and parents will be notified once that decision has been made; updates will also be posted to the School District 83 Facebook page.
Doray says it’s been a shocking day for many of the students and staff but a silver lining is how everyone pulled together to handle the unexpected situation.
“We’ve always done the drills and our kids are pretty exceptional about those instructions,” says Doray.
District staff quickly attended to the school to help and bus drivers came early to transport students who had suddenly been let out of classes early for the weekend.
“This is my first experience dealing with something that was beyond a drill,” says Doray.
“I think everyone is in a bit of a shock but I think we are all proud of our students and staff for the way they handled the situation and the composure they showed.”
He says about 250 students, teachers and staff were evacuated from the school.