A small fire in a utility closet at Marshwood High School in South Berwick prompted officials to evacuate the building Tuesday morning.

Firefighters from South Berwick and several surrounding towns responded to a fire alarm at the school about 10 a.m. and found a fire in a first-floor closet. No one was hurt, but smoke traveled throughout the building before the fire was extinguished by 10:55 a.m.

The utility room houses an ice machine for the athletic department and an industrial dryer.

The cause of the fire is being investigated, but officials believe it likely started in the dryer, which was drying rags used to clean the kitchen.

“There might have been some grease left on them,” South Berwick Fire Chief George Gorman said. “We’ve had problems with that before.”

The State Fire Marshal’s Office was notified, as is standard with all school fires, but Gorman said the cause was certainly accidental.

The building’s fire suppression system quickly put the fire out, but smoke traveled through the ventilation system and filled the building.

All of the high school students and staff were evacuated and moved to Marshwood Middle School, where they were fed lunch.

“They followed their evacuation procedures and met in their meeting areas,” said Randy Stewart, business manager of SAD 35.

Gorman said units from eight area fire departments responded to the school. He estimated the dryer would cost about $7,000 to replace, but did not have an estimate on the cost of removing the smell of smoke from the building.

“It’s just smoke in the building, you can smell it,” Gorman said. “Once you get smoke in the building, you got to clean it, I guess. The cleanup is going to be the big thing, that’s going to be the expensive part.”

All after-school athletic events involving Marshwood High teams were canceled.

“It is our expectation that we will have school (Wednesday) at Marshwood High School, but if this is not the case you will be informed in the morning,” School Administrative District 35 Superintendent Mary C. Nash said in a statement posted on the district’s website.

After the evacuation took place, high school students were not allowed to re-enter Marshwood High School, but they were allowed to return to the campus to pick up their personal vehicles – provided they had their keys with them.

Students who rode buses to school were picked up at the middle school and bused home.

“Our students and staff responded with calm resolve and used the emergency evacuation skills well that we so often practice throughout the school year,” Nash wrote.

The school, located on Dow Highway, has about 70 staff and 780 students from the towns of Eliot and South Berwick.

Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at:

mbyrne@pressherald.com

Twitter: MattByrnePPH

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