Overheated copier thought to be source of Blanchard Elementary fire

Officials say a copier started a Tuesday night fire at Blanchard Elementary School that will send students to a local church for classes indefinitely.

Blanchard classes will resume Friday at Lynwood Baptist Church, 2935 Lynwood Hills Drive, superintendent Dr. Jim Welker said Wednesday afternoon.

Cape Girardeau fire inspector Ivan LaGrand said the fire was caused by an idle copier that overheated in a teachers' workroom. The fire destroyed everything in the workroom -- a room that holds the school's Parent Teacher Organization's files and recess equipment -- and caused smoke damage in two rooms used to assist disabled students. No one was injured.

Damage was estimated at less than $500,000, fire chief Rick Ennis said.

"The printer overheated and a lot of plastic melted from there," LaGrand said.

A ceiling sprinkler head may have contained the fire to just the workroom, if in place, fire marshal Brian Shaffer said. Cape Girardeau Central High School is the only public school in the city to have a sprinkler system, Shaffer said.

The Cape Girardeau School District's emergency plan dictates that stationary fire escapes must be present at schools that need them but makes no mention of sprinklers. Sprinklers are also absent from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's facility guidelines for elementary schools. When asked about sprinklers in Blanchard, Welker said he was unsure whether sprinklers were supposed to be in the building and deferred questions about sprinklers to administrative services director Neil Glass, who could not immediately be reached for comment. A message was left with Glass' secretary at his office, and a call to his cellphone was not answered Wednesday afternoon.

When classes resume Friday, buses will remain on regular times and routes, Welker said. The district will release more information today for students who walk or use alternate transportation. Parents can reach the school office at its regular number, 335-3030.

The use of the church is a good setup for the school, Welker said, with plenty of classroom space, a cafeteria and kitchen. There is a goal of getting students back to class in the regular school building after the holiday break, he said, which ends Jan. 4.

Water, students' artwork and ceiling tiles littered the school's floor Wednesday as investigators from the state fire marshal's office, staff of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department and the crime scene unit of the Cape Girardeau Police Department surveyed the damage. Heavy smoke damage was visible in the hallways near the teacher workroom where the fire started. Doors to nearby classrooms were closed when the fire began, said Dr. Sherry Copeland, assistant superintendent, and that may mean some smoke damage to classrooms was minimized.

The school has about 350 students in preschool through fourth grades and roughly 40 teachers.

The call to the fire department was made at 7:47 p.m. Tuesday by a custodian working in the building. Custodians typically worked overnight in the school to clean the building and provide security, Welker said.

According to the Cape Girardeau Fire Department, the workroom has a copier, washer and dryer for rags and a kitchenette with a stove, oven and microwave. Two adjoining rooms were damaged heavily by smoke and there is moderate smoke damage throughout the building, Ennis said. According to a release from the department, the first crews on the scene encountered heavy black smoke in a rear hallway of the building. Crews contained the fire to the workroom within 30 minutes and remained on the scene for four hours to clear smoke from the building.

A crowd of teachers and parents gathered at the scene Tuesday night. Welker said he was appreciative of the teachers showing up and being willing to call the parents of their students to notify them of the fire and the cancellation of classes. The district sent a staff member to the school Wednesday morning to notify any parents who hadn't heard about the situation and that classes were called off.

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388-3627

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Pertinent address:

1829 N. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO

2935 Lynwood Hills Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO