A fire ignited inside a trash compactor at Riverside-Brookfield High School early Thursday morning, but did no damage to school property, according to fire department and school officials.
Smoke alarms went off in the school near a maintenance room in the northwest corner of the campus at 2:48 a.m. on Sept. 17, according to Riverside Fire Chief Kevin Mulligan. In addition to Riverside firefighters, personnel from Brookfield, North Riverside and Lyons also responded.
“That’s the normal response by us to the high school,” said Mulligan.
According to Mulligan, the fire started inside a trash compactor in an area adjacent to the new northwest entrance to the school. Smoke escaped from the maintenance room and set off smoke alarms in a nearby hallway and classroom area.
“My supposition is that something discarded in the trash caused the fire,” said Mulligan. “We don’t believe it was an intentional act. It’s not suspicious.”
Because the fire department was not able to reach anyone from the trash company that owned the compactor, a Riverside public works tractor was called in to drag the unit out of the building, where the fire was extinguished.
Mulligan said the school did not sustain any structural damage.
“There was some smoke in the hallway adjacent to the classroom area,” Mulligan said.
The school day was not disrupted due to the fire.
RB’s interim superintendent, David Bonnette, sent out a statement about the fire, praising the response of firefighters.
“Thanks to the rapid response of our fire departments, a potential disaster was averted,” Bonnette said.
-Bob Uphues