An accidental fire in the construction zone of Lake Braddock Secondary School caused significant damage to new supplies.
The fire, which started around 12:55 p.m. on Tuesday, July 5, was located in the receiving room, and was caused by stray sparks.
According to Chuck Bolen of the Fairfax County Public Schools Office of Design and Construction, crews were performing demolition in a boiler room above the receiving area when stray sparks fell through "a small hole nobody knew about."
Several cardboard boxes in the receiving room caught fire and spread to various stacks of supplies located there. According to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue reports, firefighters worked for around 20 minutes to put the fire out, and there were no injuries. They estimate the damage to be $300,000, of which $250,000 is electronic equipment.
Bolen said that several pallets of new computers, which were being held in the receiving room, sustained the majority of the damage. He said the general contractor, Henley Construction, would be responsible for covering the cost of the damage through their insurance policy.
"It was a pretty small fire, but it did a fair amount of damage with smoke and heat," said Bolen.
The 42-month construction project, which began in April of 2004, is scheduled to be completed in October 2007. Bolen said the fire would not delay construction.