Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - Students were dismissed from Syracuse Elementary School at noon Tuesday after being evacuated because of a fire.
Syracuse Fire Department Chief Larry Hunter said the 11:22 a.m. fire started on a roof above the boiler room, where a circulating system for the gymnasium was being dismantled as part of an extensive remodeling project.
Hunter said the workers were using a torch to cut apart a portion of the circulating system when the filter system caught on fire.
As a result, the gymnasium was filled with "a dark black smoke," Hunter said. Although doors were opened and large fans were set up to help ventilate the gymnasium, Hunter said, the smoke was quickly removed from the building after the department's air boat was backed up to the front side of the gymnasium.
Fire crews remained on the scene until about 2 p.m.
No injuries were reported in the Tuesday incident and school was back in session this morning after inspectors deemed the building safe last night, according to a spokesman at the Wawasee School Corp. administration office.
