Fire Officials Say Blaze in Portable Classroom at Fremont Elementary School Was Accidental

A portable classroom at Patterson Elementary School in Fremont sustained about $100,000 with another $25,000 of damage to the contents following a fire on Friday afternoon.

Fire officials were investigating a report of a fire alarm and smoke reported at 35521 Cabrillo in Fremont at about 3:18 p.m. when they discovered the portable classroom at the back of the school was on fire, according to a statement released by Fremont Fire.

“In order to attack and extinguish the fire, crews had to drive to the rear of the school near the baseball field to gain access,” fire officials said. “Once there they had to forcibly open the doors to the portable classroom and a ventilation hole was cut in the roof. Initially, firefighters thought there were three rooms involved due to smoke coming from all three doors, but quickly realized it was all one large classroom.”

Fire officials said it took about 30 minutes to control the blaze. Fire investigators determined an electrical outlet in the office to be the likely source of the fire and are calling it accidental.

No one was injured during the fire.

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