Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 28, 1990                   TAG: 9003280628
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: VICTORIA RATCLIFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FIRE ACTION BY SCHOOL IRKS OFFICIALS

Roanoke County dispatchers received an emergency 911 call from the front office of Cave Spring High School at 12:06 p.m. Tuesday about the fire, said Mark Light, chief of support services.

While the fire trucks were en route, dispatchers received another call from the school saying that the fire was out and that the trucks weren't needed. But the trucks continued on, and arrived at the school about six minutes after the initial call was received, Light said.

At that time, smoke could be seen coming from the locker room doors, but no students had been evacuated, Light said.

"We found it unusual when we got there that smoke was coming out the door and no people were outside," he said. Firefighters immediately went into the school and sounded the fire alarm, he said. The school was emptied in about a minute and a half, and students remained outside for about 30 minutes.

Firefighters found a fire had started in a bottom locker and had spread to three other lockers - two on each side and one above it. The fire had been extinguished when firefighters arrived, but there was smoke in the locker room, both gymnasiums and in one back hallway, Light said.

"They had extinguished the fire, and there was no danger of it spreading. But the thing that kills people is smoke," Light said. "The one thing that we want to stress is the importance of an early evacuation. Let's get the kids out until we're sure there's no problem."

Principal Bob Lipscomb said today that he didn't evacuate students because the fire was extinguished so quickly and because "the smoke was contained in the locker room and there was nobody in the locker room but us."

Lipscomb said a coach in the locker room called the front office and said there was a fire at about 11:55 a.m. "The assistant principal took a fire extinguisher from the office and I followed him just to see what they had," he said.

Articles of clothing were burning in the locker, but the fire was put out quickly, he said.

Although the fire was extinguished fast, school officials at Cave Spring did not handle the fire "according to recommended practices," Light said. In fact, he said, school officials "were not happy campers" when they found out that firefighters had pulled the alarm.

"But our inspector discussed it with them," and explained that "anytime there's smoke, we're going to do that," Light said.

Proper procedure in case of a fire is to immediately sound the alarm and call the fire department, he said. Then people should attempt to extinguish the fire if they can.

Lipscomb said fire officials explained the procedure to him, and that school officials will immediately evacuate students in the future.

The fire caused minimal damage - just to the lockers and some smoke damage to the wall above the lockers, Light said. No one was injured.

The cause of the fire still is under investigation, he said. Fire inspectors are not sure whether the fire was set or if it was accidental.