By Jill Harmacinski
The Eagle-Tribune
LAWRENCE, Mass. — There will be no school at the Bruce School on Tuesday and possibly for the rest of the week, after an electrical fire that caused $300,000 in damage broke out at the school Monday morning.
Firefighters raced to the school at 8:23 a.m. after the second-floor fire was reported in classroom 27, fire officials said.
Some 538 students and 70 staff members were quickly and safely evacuated from the school, officials said.
Upon firefighters’ arrival, smoke was showing from the Butler Street side of the school and black smoke was puffing from the eaves, said Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Loughlin.
Firefighters had the two-alarm blaze under control in about 45 minutes, Loughlin said. The rest of the building sustained water and smoke damage, he said.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation Monday afternoon. Officials said they do not believe it was suspicious.
One firefighter suffered a knee injury battling the blaze and was taken to Lawrence General Hospital, Loughlin said.
Loughlin said the School Department, Public Works Department and building inspectors were at the school Monday assessing the scope of the damage.
”The kids did a really good job and should be commended,” Loughlin said of the school’s smooth evacuation. “This is what we have fire drills for.”
Students in grades three to eight attend school at the Bruce, which was built in 1954, according to the school website.
The students were taken to the Guilmette School Monday as a result of the fire. Parents were given the option of picking them up there.
Monday afternoon, parents and guardians were notified by robocalls that there were be no school for Bruce students on Tuesday, said Christopher Markuns, spokesperson for Lawrence School Superintendent Jeff Riley.
“Most likely we are looking at the rest of the week (without school). We will assess and go forward from there,” Markuns said.
Mayor Daniel Rivera said he was impressed to see the school and Fire Department working well together.
“The fire was knocked down fast and all the kids are good,” Rivera said.
Deputy Fire Chief John McInnis described the incident as a “significant fire” with “black smoke pouring out of numerous areas of the school.”
McInnis lauded teachers for “doing a great job evacuating the school.”
“And the guys did a great job putting the fire out,” he said of firefighters.
Many of the students who attended classes in the wing where the fire occurred may have lost their winter jackets, backpacks and other belongings to smoke and water damage, said Frank McLaughlin, president of the Lawrence Teachers Union.
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