Auburn elementary suffers electrical fire; damage limited to office area

“When the sprinkler system came on, the fire alarm went off around midnight and alerted the fire department, and they responded along with us,” said Auburn Police Chief Frederick Brown.

The source of the fire was a bank of chargers for the staff’s portable radios.

“We had one of our investigators go down and walk through with a firefighter to make sure it wasn’t arson,” Brown said. “They determined it was electrical.”

The smoke and water damage were contained to the reception area. School is out today and the school system’s maintenance staff is repairing the damage, he said.

“I was there at 10:30, and they were pretty much finishing the reports and doing cleanup. They had all the desks out in the hall and there was a dumpster out there,” Brown said.

Auburn Elementary School is the only school inside the city limits.