WALDPORT – Students are scheduled to return Monday to Crestview Heights and Waldport Middle schools following an electrical fire early Friday that knocked out the schools’ fire sprinkler system and forced cancellation of classes for one day.
Staff were able to return to their classrooms or offices by 9 a.m. Friday following the outage three hours earlier, but students had already been told to stay home.
In an update to parents and staff Friday, the Lincoln County School District said it is not sure when the electric motor and pump that powers the sprinkler system could be replaced.
But the fire alarm system was not damaged and is still functioning. That means if there is smoke or a fire, the district said, the alarms will go off and students can evacuate and the fire department notified.
But the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office is requiring the district to post a 24-hour “fire watch” at the school until the sprinkler system is repaired. The district said it is working with vendors to see when the system can be fixed, or if there is a way to install a temporary motor and pump until there’s a permanent replacement.
Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue public information officer Erich Knudson said firefighters were first called to Crestview Heights at 3:15 a.m. Friday when a fire alarm went off. But there was no fire and they cleared the building, he said.
School district maintenance crews arrived about 6 a.m. and drained the sprinkler system so they could re-set and test it, Knudson said. But a drain on a separate empty sprinkler was opened, causing a booster pump to engage and subsequently catch fire. Crews had to shut power to all of the building because automatic sprinkler system pumps are not connected to a fuse box or other breakers, Knudson said, and the pump self-extinguished.
Four staff from COCF&R, two from Yachats Rural Fire Protection District and one from the Seal Rock Fire Department responded to the alarm.
