Staff Report
Eunice Elementary remained closed today following its shutdown after a fire destroyed a special education classroom and damaged the rest of the building Tuesday morning.
A notice from the St. Landry Parish School Board office stated parents of third- and fourth-grade students are requested to attend a meeting at 6 p.m. today at the First Baptist of Eunice, 331 W. Park Ave.
The fire may have started with an electrical malfunction in a window air conditioning unit sometime after 5 a.m. Tuesday.
There were no injuries reported in connection with the fire.
Investigators learned the fire was discovered by a janitor about 30 minutes after he opened a stand-alone building on the campus at 5 a.m., according to a news release from the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The incident was confined to that one building that contained 11 classrooms, the fire marshal’s news release stated.
Investigators found heavy fire damage in one classroom at one end of the building.
Heavy smoke damage was found to have spread throughout the entire building.
The Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal was contacted by the Eunice Fire Department around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday to assist in determining the origin and cause of a fire at Eunice Elementary School, located in the 400 block of South 9th Street.
School officials on the scene Tuesday morning included Superintendent Patrick Jenkins, who said the building has classrooms for about 110 fourth- and fifth-graders.
The first goal is to keep the students on the campus, he said.
The St. Landry Parish School Board had approved new roofs for the three buildings at Eunice Elementary along with Eunice Junior High School.
Jenkins said the roof at the damaged building may be replaced through insurance.
The roof projects for the Eunice schools had been approved at a cost of $1,099,000 at the Board’s August meeting.
Eunice Police radio dispatch logs for Tuesday note the Eunice Elemenetary fire.
05:48 Fire across the street of Eunice Elementary, 451 S. 9th.
05:51 Classroom on fire.
05:52 Classroom fully engulfed at Eunice Elementary.
06:02 Contacted Mary Dupre, the principal, and she is on her way.
06:26 Eunice firefighters have fire under control and are trying to clear the building smoke and check the attic for fire.
06:27 Eunice Elementary closed until further notice.