Despite Fire, McLane Principal Says School Will Open As Usual

BRANDON, FL — Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials say a lightning strike caused the two-alarm fire that broke out at McLane Middle School, 306 N. Knights Ave., Brandon, Friday night.

The fire broke out around 11 p.m., shortly after severe thunderstorms rolled through the Brandon area. Firefighters said the fire was ignited when lightning struck the roof of one of the school's two-story buildings. Using both aerial and ground attacks, firefighters got the flames under control in about 30 minutes.

The fire destroyed the building that housed eight classrooms for seventh-grade students.

“It’s heartbreaking," said McLane Principal Dina Langton. "But we are Viking strong.”

Langston said three teachers had already decorated their classrooms and stocked them with supplies for the school year that begins Aug. 12.

The Hillsborough Superintendent is providing a $1,000 stipend to the impacted teachers to purchase new supplies.

Langston said the fire also destroyed 120 nearly-new computers.

She said she's been overwhelmed by the support she has received from other schools, churches and local businesses, which have offered to donate items to replace those lost in the fire.

If school district engineers determine that no other buildings have structural damage from the fire, the school district is working on a plan to accommodate all 200 seventh-graders on the school campus while the damaged classrooms are rebuilt. The engineers are expected to submit a report this week.

"We're hoping that we're going to absorb (all the seventh-graders) without having any other plans or any portables or anything else like that," said Langston.

There is no estimate on how long it will take to repair the damaged portions of the school.

Nevertheless, Langston said she's going to make sure that the students' first day goes off without a hitch.

"We feel like we're going to be in a good place, and the first day of school will be as normal as possible," she said.

McLane Middle School was Brandon's first public school, originally accommodating grades one through eight in a two-story building constructed in 1914. Grades nine through 12 were added when a second two-story building was completed in 1919.

After the community successfully fought a proposal to tear down the original buildings and replace them with a more modern structure, the buildings known as the "twin towers" were designated historic landmarks by Hillsborough County.

The school served all 12 grades until Yates Elementary School was constructed in 1953 and the elementary grades moved to the new school on Parsons Avenue. The middle school grades moved out in 1962 when Mann Middle School was constructed.

When the current Brandon High School opened on Victoria Street in 1972, the original Brandon High School reverted to a junior high school named for E.F. McLane who served as the school's principal for 34 years.

There are currently 634 students in grades six, seven and eight attending McLane.