Fire closes SHS for three days
Published on March 12th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - Stoneham High School was forced to close for three days this week when a transformer near the loading docks in the rear of the school caught fire and caused minor smoke and fire problems at the school - as well as a power outage that resulted in the closure at the high school.
Rumors circulated through the town that asbestos had been found in the school and was the reason for the third straight day of school closure, but Stoneham Superintendent Dr. Les Olson strongly denied the rumor.
"We are still cleaning the building due to smoke infiltration," said Olson on early Wednesday afternoon.
The fire began around roughly 8:30 a.m. Monday morning and the power went out at the high school, and Stoneham High School officials evacuated the student body to the cafeteria during the actual fire and then classes were promptly cancelled on Monday.
Cleanup crews were at the high school on Tuesday morning to assess the smoke damage on the second floor above the fire and clean up any remaining evidence of the fire in the transformer room in a remote spot at the high school.
"This was an instance where the local fire departments and police departments as well as school officials and parents all worked together to deal with this as seamlessly as possible," said Stoneham Superintendent of Schools Dr. Les Olson. "You always hate to miss a day or two of school, but we wanted to err on the side of caution and make sure that we have the kids' safety in mind first."
NSTAR officials were working round the clock on Monday to replace the faulty transformer and power was up and running again at the high school by 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, but school officials had already made the call to close for the day.
Winchester Fire Department firefighters watched over the Stoneham Fire Department while when the second alarm was struck and both Wakefield Fire and Melrose Fire officials reported to the high school for mutual aid.
The fire was extinguished quickly and the area was vented, and Stoneham Fire officials tested the air quality levels and found that there were no PCB's in the air - a possibility whenever a transformer fire is in play.
"Whenever you hear fire at the high school the guys at the station get very concerned and get right up there, but this was something that was under control quickly," said Stoneham Fire Chief Joe Rolli. "Seeing a transformer blow out is something we see quite a bit, but I actually haven't seen one of these actually catch fire like this one did. One thing that really worked in the school's favor was that there weren't any couches or boxes or other flammable materials in the room where the transformer is stored.
"If that were case it could have been worse, but the room was completely clean and empty," added Rolli.
Rolli added that there were no injuries in fighting the fire and that the smoke and fire damage was really at a minimum throughout the school
Olson, ironically enough, also saw a transformer catch fire during his last job in the Westborough School District before getting the job in Stoneham. Apparently a backhoe pulled out one of the main underground lines during the reconstruction of one of the schools, and a transformer briefly caught fire before it was controlled by the local fire department.
"I actually hope I'm not a jinx," said Olson. "But the construction was part of a very successful $40 million construction improvement project at the schools, so I don't think that's the case."
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!