9 Hanford High classrooms damaged by fire sprinklers. Monday classes not affected
Restoration crews will work over the weekend to repair water-damaged classrooms at Hanford High School after an early morning fire triggered the school’s fire suppression system Friday.
Seven of nine affected classrooms will be ready for students and teachers when school resumes on Monday, said Hanford Principal Mike Johnson in a letter to families.
Two teachers will be temporarily displaced from their classrooms at the start of the week.
“Students and staff have been a great help today in maintaining normal operations as much as possible, and we are all looking forward to a restful weekend,” Johnson wrote, who also gave thanks to Richland police and fire crews who responded to the early morning blaze.
“We would also like to thank the (Richland School District) facilities department, as their crew was on-site early and able to remove most of the water within a few hours, as well as set up blowers to dry out the rooms,” he continued.
Richland police and firefighters were dispatched at 5:20 a.m. for a fire alarm activation at the 270,000-square-foot school.
Something had ignited a blaze in a large garbage can in a storage room between two science classes on the first floor. It’s unclear what caused the plastic bin to smolder.
The fire’s cause remains under investigation. No injuries were reported.
The smoke triggered the sprinkler system, which helped contain any flames but also caused “significant flooding” in the hallway.
“Thankfully, there was no indication of anyone inside the building and no criminal activity is suspected,” police wrote in a Facebook post.
Classes went on as scheduled Friday at Hanford as crews worked to remove the water and clean up soaked hallways and classrooms. Most of the building remained accessible to students, staff and teachers.
Teachers who would normally hold classes along that hallway were instead meeting students in the gymnasium, said Shawna Dinh, the district’s public information officer.
This is the second fire on the Hanford campus this school year.
In September, a suspected electrical issue at a small building that held irrigation parts and facilities supplies resulted in a fire that smoldered for a couple days, according to previous Herald reports.
The fire damaged two utility vehicles, a fork lift and several lawn mowers parked there.
This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 12:13 PM.
