The Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School fire could have been much worse if students involved in activities Sunday evening had not seen it, according to Fire Chief Matt Manshack of the Orange County Emergency District No. 3.
The fire in a large electrical box in the back of the school sent smoke throughout the buildings, he said.
Students in an extracurricular activity at the time saw the smoke about 6:30 p.m. and reported it.
“The damage was real minimal,” he said. Firefighters didn’t even need water to put out the fire.
The ESD requested the Lumberton Fire Department to help because the group has a large fan truck, he said. “They can do in 30 minutes what it would take us four hours to do,” he said.
The school district canceled high school classes Monday because of the fire. Monday morning, all the exterior doors to the school were open as district personnel continued to get smoke out of the buildings.
The high school has recently had a major renovation and building construction.
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