Fire In Highland Park High School Closet Cancels In-Person Class

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — An early-morning fire in a closet at Highland Park High School filled the school's hallways with smoke, leading to the cancellation of in-person classes Friday, administrators said.

"Thankfully, no one was hurt," Township High School District 113 Superintendent Bruce Law said in a message to the community. "Inspectors tell us that the most likely cause of the fire was a lithium battery pack."

Law said debris and heat from the fire damaged nearby areas housing critical operational and information technology infrastructure.

"Smoke and fire detection systems were knocked out and telephone service and the public address system are currently down," he said.

The school's opening status for Monday was still unknown as of Sunday afternoon, Law said in an email to district families. The fire detection system was still not operational at the time.

"The fire destroyed sections of the fire detection system, making the entire system inoperable," Law wrote. "Crews from the company that provides our fire detection system have been onsite since Friday working to replace and restore equipment."

Earlier, the superintendent said the infrastructure is expected to be working again by Monday. But since the smoke from the fire also affected the building, Law said administrators would need to await the results of air quality tests to ensure that it meets Environmental Protection Agency standards.

"As of Friday afternoon, we expect that smoke and fire detection systems will be restored by Monday. We also expect critical IT infrastructure to be restored by Monday, including telephones and the public address system."

Law said administrators would decide by noon Sunday whether the school would be able to operate in-person school the next day.

District spokesperson Karen Warner told Patch there was hardly anyone on campus around 4:30 a.m. when the fire occurred. She said families and staff were notified around 7 a.m. that the day would be an asynchronous remote learning day.

No information was immediately available from representatives of the Highland Park Fire Department, which held a ceremony Friday afternoon to mark the final day on the job of retired Fire Chief Larry Amidei and the promotion of new Fire Chief Joe Schrage.

Events at Wolters Field are going forward as planned Friday and Saturday, according to District 113's website, but all events scheduled at the Vine Avenue campus over the weekend have been moved, cancelled or rescheduled.