FORT SMITH, Ark. — According to the Fort Smith School District, on June 27 a fire began at Ramsey Middle School in the orchestra room. No injuries were reported and no students were present.
“They determined that it probably originated from one of the floor fans that our custodial staff uses once they shampoo the carpet," said Shawn Shaffer, the executive director for facilities at Fort Smith Public Schools.
The Fort Smith Fire Department (FSFD) arrived on the scene to extinguish the fire.
“We had some solid core doors on in that classroom, and those solid core doors were able to keep the fire within one classroom,” said Shaffer.
Though no injuries were reported, the fire caused extensive smoke damage across the Ramsey campus.
“The room had several instruments in it, and most of them were damaged from heat and smoke and direct flame contact," said Ethan Millard, division chief of operations for the FSFD.
Millard confirmed that the fan was plugged into an extension cord, which was the cause of the fire.
“We highly recommend that you never use an extension cord when using objects like that, whether it's a fan or a space heater, we recommend plugging directly into the outlet,” said Millard. “It can become a safety risk, and a life safety risk if they don't use the appropriate extension cords."
Millard said that powerful appliances like fans can create excessive heating when plugged into an extension cord.
“Too much power can go through it, creating resistance heating, and that heating can cause a fire if it's great enough,” said Millard.
Shaffer said the district has hired a remediation company and has already started an initial evaluation.
"They'll remediate smoke damage, water damage, fire damage," said Shaffer. "We're going to take an inventory of all assets that are lost, gather that information, and then they'll start ordering the material for the bill back"
5NEWS will update this story as more information becomes available.
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