According to the Ellenville Central School District's website, a lit cigarette caused a fire in the basement of the High School and smoke damage throughout the school building last night.
A previous post on the school's website this morning, which has since been edited, reports that the school was closed today but is expected to reooen tomorrow "pending completion of an extensive cleanup operation and air quality testing." *
Hat tip to the Daily Freeman.
*Update, 7pm: The school's website now says school is closed tomorrow, on account of lurking asbestos in the area of the fire:
The site of Tuesday night´s small fire was in an area that had previously been abated for asbestos. During that abatement project, after all the asbestos was removed, a plastic barrier was installed as an added precaution. During the process of putting out the fire, this plastic barrier suffered minor damage. While it is highly unlikely that any asbestos particles were released into the air, air quality testing has been ongoing. The results of this testing will not be available until the afternoon on Thursday, March 31. In order to ensure a safe environment for the staff and students, school will be closed on Thursday, March 31, 2011. At this time, it is anticipated that school will reopen on Friday, April 1.
