NFPA Journal - Summer 2021 - 83

News reports indicated that students
were evacuated and were walked to a
nearby high school, where they were
supported by teachers and staff from
both schools.
Investigators determined that the fire
started when a frayed electrical cord
arced, causing the cord's outer casing
to ignite. Fire spread across a wall and
ignited a small amount of paper before
self-extinguishing.
The school building was equipped
with smoke detectors in common hallways and a low-voltage fire alarm was
tied to a municipal loop. The building
was not equipped with a sprinkler
system.
The school was a two-story structure
with block walls, steel roof and floor
framing, and a metal roof deck covered by tar and gravel. The building
occupied a ground floor area of 90,000
square feet (8,361 square meters).
The fire caused an estimated $5,000
in damage to the building, valued at
$4.1 million, and $300 in damage to the
contents, valued at $1 million.

LOUISIANA
Intentionally set fire in high school is
confined to trash can
Firefighters were dispatched to a high
school at 10 a.m. following a 911 call
reporting a fire in a boys' bathroom.
Arriving firefighters learned that
school staff had already extinguished
a fire that had been intentionally
set inside a plastic trash can in the
restroom.
Firefighters learned that the fire
began when a student used a cigarette
lighter to ignite paper towels and then
set them in the trash can. A student
who subsequently entered the restroom
discovered the fire and alerted school
staff. The fire did not spread outside
the trash can.
The fire department reported that
school staff detained a male student
who set the fire until its investigators
arrived to place him in custody.
News reports indicated that video
showed the male student entering the
restroom and exiting just before the
fire was discovered. The reports indicated that the student was booked by

fire department investigators on one
count of aggravated arson.
The school building was protected
by a wet-pipe sprinkler system, but no
sprinklers activated before the fire was
extinguished.
The fire caused no damage to the
school building, valued at $10 million, and caused an estimated $150 in
damage to building contents, valued at
$5 million.

Public Assembly
MINNESOTA
Fire in mall contained by sprinkler
system
Firefighters were dispatched to an
indoor mall following notification by a
central station alarm at 7:45 p.m.
Upon entering the structure, crews
reported that they found smoke inside,
as well as water flowing from the building's sprinkler system. Crews located
a fire in a collection of chairs, carpet,
and cardboard behind a movie theater,
where two sprinklers had activated and
were containing the fire.
Crews completed extinguishment
and separated the contents to ensure
that all areas were extinguished. Firefighters ventilated the area and turned
the property over to management.
Investigators determined that the fire
started with the ignition of cardboard
in the pile of material, which was in an
emergency exit corridor. The investigation concluded that the fire may have
resulted from an incendiary act but
were unable to rule out smoking materials as a possible cause.
The building was protected by a wetpipe sprinkler system equipped with a
water flow alarm.
The building was a two-story structure
constructed with concrete walls, steel
roof and floor framing, and a flat roof
steel deck covered by rock over tar. It
occupied a ground floor area of 250,000
square feet (23,226 square meters).
The fire caused $275,000 in damage
to the building, valued at $8.1 million,
and an estimated $2,500 in damage to
its contents, valued at $1 million.
N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL

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NFPA Journal - Summer 2021

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