Washington High School suffers fire in boiler room

WASHINGTON, Iowa (GTNS) ? Washington High School students were evacuated shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday after smoke was reported coming from one of the boilers in the former junior high wing of the Washington High School building.

At about 2 p.m., the students were allowed to go back to classes.

Washington Schools Superintendent Jeff Dicks said a district employee had pulled the fire alarm after finding smoke coming from one of the two boilers in the area.

After an investigation, the district learned the boiler had overheated to the extent that insulation wrapping it had begun to smolder. Dicks does not believe the boiler could have overheated to the degree it could have exploded.

The cause of the boiler overheating is still under investigation. Dicks said one of the issues the district?s HVAC provider is still investigating is that there are automatic shut-offs on the boilers in case they overheat.

Washington firefighters and police officers responded to the call. Firefighters determined it was safe for the students, who had evacuated the building without stopping to get coats, to wait in the auditorium while smoke was removed. At about 2 p.m. the students were allowed to go back to classes, with only the auxiliary gym remaining closed while the firefighters removed the smoke from that area.