Post Falls High School evacuated for small fire

A small fire in a clothes dryer forced evacuation this morning of Post Falls High School as well as cancellation of classes for today, officials said.
The fire about 7:45 a.m. was quickly extinguished but filled the school’s arena with smoke, said Jim Lyon, fire information officer for Kootenai County Fire and Rescue in Post Falls.
The fire, he said, “was enough to set off the sprinkler head in that room and fill the building with smoke.”
Students were quickly evacuated in an operation that was described as orderly. Classes for the day were canceled.
Students who …

A small fire in a clothes dryer forced evacuation this morning of Post Falls High School as well as cancellation of classes for today, officials said.

The fire about 7:45 a.m. was quickly extinguished but filled the school’s arena with smoke, said Jim Lyon, fire information officer for Kootenai County Fire and Rescue in Post Falls.

The fire, he said, “was enough to set off the sprinkler head in that room and fill the building with smoke.”

Students were quickly evacuated in an operation that was described as orderly. Classes for the day were canceled.

Students who drive to school were allowed to leave while buses were summoned to take other students home.

The athletic facility remained taped off while firefighters set up fans to remove smoke from the building. Students were allowed to return to the academic area once firefighters had eliminated any threat of a fire spreading.

Some students went to the nearby Real Life Ministries a short distance east of the campus.

The blaze was confined to a small concrete block room at the school at 2832 E. Poleline Ave.

As a precaution, the fire department called a second alarm and had crews responding from Coeur d’Alene and Northern Lakes fire departments. However, the fire was out by the time those crews arrived, Lyon said.

Lyon said the school should be able to resume classes on Wednesday, but that decision was up to school officials.