Lacombe high school fire damage could have been worse

Eight hundred Lacombe Composite High School students had the day off Tuesday.

Fire crews were called to the school around 1:15 Monday afternoon. Thick smoke and flames were coming out of the top of the building.

Tamara Lewis, one of the safely evacuated students, was outside in gym class when the flames broke out.

"It was pretty frightening. I thought the whole school was going to burn down," Lewis said.

The fire started on the roof where construction crews were working. The high school is going through a three-year, $25 million renovation project.

Superintendent Larry Jacobs surveyed the damage Tuesday.

"There’s a lot of water in the building…a lot of tiles from the ceiling have to come down."

Crews are still investigating the damage, but say the fire could have been a lot worse. Most of the damage is at the north end of the school.

Now, the school division is trying to find temporary class space. Fixing the building could take up to two months.

Investigators will return to the scene Wednesday to try and determine the cause of the fire.