SNOW HILL — A fire at Snow Hill High School early Tuesday morning has been listed by the Worcester County Fire Marshal’s Office as accidental and is being blamed on a faulty laptop computer battery charging unit.
Around 12:20 a.m. on Tuesday, Worcester County Emergency Services received a fire alarm activation signal from Snow Hill High School. A Snow Hill Police officer had arrived prior the fire department and observed smoke in the building. The alarm was then upgraded to a commercial structure response.
First arriving Snow Hill firefighters quickly located the fire contained to a storage room in the school’s computer lab. The fire was contained by the activation of the school’s automatic sprinkler system and the damage was minimal due largely to the sprinkler system. However, roughly $30,000 in damage was reported to several portable laptop computers.
There was no structural damage to the school and it opened on time on Wednesday morning and classes went on as scheduled for the day. However, five classrooms were taken out of commission and some students were displaced so water and smoke damage could be cleaned up.