Officials say a malfunctioning freezer was the likely cause of last weekend’s fire that damaged part of a K-5 school in east Saint John.
Emergency crews were called to Glen Falls School around 8 p.m. Saturday and were met with thick black smoke coming from multiple doors.
Zoë Watson, superintendent of the Anglophone South School District, said they have since learned the fire started in a small kitchen and canteen area next to the school’s gymnasium.
“After looking into it, it would appear that it was a malfunctioning compressor on the back of a freezer that was in that space,” Watson said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Watson said the fire caused significant damage to the kitchen and canteen area, along with a large lobby area next to it.
Officials are still assessing the extent of damage in the school’s gymnasium to see if part of the floor may need to be replaced.
Watson said there was no fire or water damage in any of the eight classrooms, but smoke and soot were spread through the school’s ventilation system.
Students and staff being relocated
With repairs expected to take several weeks, school staff quickly turned their attention to finding a temporary home for the roughly 150 students and staff.
Watson said they determined that Forest Hills School, a K-8 school located about 2.6 kilometres away, would be the best match to keep all of the students together.
“They have an elementary wing and they do have adequate space there with some juggling to accommodate the eight classes,” she said.
Watson said staff are working to set up the necessary furniture and technology at Forest Hills School and to ensure transportation logistics are figured out.
“There are several students who walk to Glen Falls School and we do have some students who are bussed, so we have to look at that because now we will have to bus those students who are nearer to Glen Falls up to Forest Hills,” she said.
Students will continue to learn from home over the next few days and are expected to be in their temporary home by early next week, said Watson.
You can hear our full interview with Zoë Watson, superintendent of the Anglophone South School District, below:
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