Fire at high school causes limited damage

With about three minutes remaining in Maricopa High School’s Homecoming game against Globe (see Rams lose 29-21, finish season with 1-9 record), a dark cloud fell over the field. Literally.

According to Maricopa Fire Department’s Brad Pittassi, the fire department received an alarm indicating the sprinkler system in the recently renovated high school had activated at approximately 9:10 p.m. An all-engines warning was sent out to both Maricopa Fire Department and Gila River Fire Department.

When engines responded, firefighters found the fire suppression system active and were able to quickly put out the remainder of the fire. Pitassi said the fire was contained to one room, which was later identified as room 255, reportedly the room being used as an office by Assistant to the Superintendent Burnie Hibbard.

Maricopa Unified School District spokesman Tom Beckett said the classroom received “pretty extensive water damage” and it and the adjacent rooms will likely need new carpet and drywall. He said the loss of computer equipment will be limited to hardware and there would be little or no loss of information due to the fire. “Nearly all of our information is housed on district servers,” Beckett said, “so the chance of information being lost is slim.”

“Everything worked perfectly,” Pitassi said of the fire suppression system. “I can’t stress enough how fast a fire like this in a new structure can spread. They (the sprinklers) did a great job.”

Fire officials are investigating the cause and will release additional information when it becomes available.

Beckett said there will be no interruptions at the school and classes will resume as scheduled Monday. “We may have students being displaced from some classrooms, but that will be quickly resolved.”

Photo by Carrie Vargas