A storage shed at Placerita Junior High School caught fire early Tuesday morning causing some damage to the school and prompting a massive deployment of firefighting units to bring it under control.
The fire broke out at the school on Newhall Avenue, near Newhall Park, shortly after 1 a.m.
“It started as a storage shed fire,” a firefighter with Fire Station #73 said. “There were some pallets piled by the shed.”
The fire spread to the main school structure but was described as “minor damage.”
Firefighters and several support vehicles from two battalions were dispatched the scene at 1:03 a.m., a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
“Flames 20 feet high were seen with smoke,” he said. “Ambulances were brought in and placed on standby.”
Firefighters extinguished the fire at 1:22 a.m.
“They carried out a primary search of the building,” the Fire Department spokesman said.
Officials with the William S. Hart Union High School District called the fire damage: “minimal.”
“The fire was near a custodial shed and was put out quickly by the fire department,” District spokesman Dave Caldwell told The Signal.
“There was minimal damage to the shed and no damage to any classrooms,” he said.
No one was hurt in the incident or the firefighting efforts.
Firefighters remained at the scene for an hour and a half.
The fire is under investigation.
Arson investigators were expected to be called in to investigate, one official said.
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