Mt. Juliet Elementary School to close Monday due to fire

An intense but brief fire caused by a malfunctioning heating/air conditioning unit caused significant smoke and water damage to a second-grade classroom at Mt. Juliet Elementary School on Sunday morning.

The Wilson County School District said the school will be closed on Monday to allow teachers and staff to clean up from the fire.

Mt. Juliet firefighters responded to an alarm at the school just after 8 a.m. Sunday. The school’s sprinkler system had extinguished most of the fire and contained it to one classroom, according to Mt. Juliet Fire Department Chief Jamie Luffman. Firefighters then quickly put out the remaining fire, he said.

Nearby classrooms received water damage, Luffman said. There was a burn mark a couple of feet wide on the brick wall of the school that went from the unit near the ground to the roof.

A low, horizontal heater under a window described as a "hotel-style heater" by Luffman malfunctioned and caught fire. The fire was "pretty intense in a short period of time," Luffman said.

The school district was on spring break last week. Teachers will be using Monday to survey, inventory and clean up their classrooms, Principal Ginger Ash said in a phone message to parents. School will resume on Tuesday, March 21.

“We are a family, and as a family we will get through this together,” Ash said.

Earlier Sunday, fire and school officials expected the school to reopen Monday.

“Our plan right now is to get the other rooms dried out and have all of the classrooms functional for school (Monday) except for that one where the fire started,” Wilson County Schools Emergency Manager Steve Spencer said Sunday morning. “Our cleaning crews will be working all day.”

Firefighters used squeegees to sweep out water from the damaged classrooms and hallway. Firefighters also removed water-damaged books, cabinets, computers, carpets, and globes and other educational materials through the windows of the damaged classrooms.

Luffman said that the fire department checked out the other heating/air conditioning units throughout the school for possible similar malfunctions and the roof of the school, but did not find any problems.

It could have been worse.

"This is a testament to sprinklers and to fast response from the fire department,” said Luffman.