NORTHAMPTON — Less than a day after high winds tore off a section of roof on a building at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, a fire caused extensive damage to the school’s forestry education building.
No one was injured in the fire at Building E, which was called in shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters from multiple communities responded to the school at 80 Locust St. at around the same time that students were being dismissed for the day. Police and school staff directed traffic as fire engines from Amherst, Easthampton, Hadley, Hatfield, Holyoke and South Deerfield arrived to assist Northampton.
Administrators guided groups of student-athletes around the first responder vehicles that flooded the campus parking lots, instructing them to move between buildings with care and speed. A group of teachers gathered outside the police tape that had already sectioned off the damaged Building D.
Superintendent Andrew Linkenhoker observed the fire alongside the school’s board of trustees chairman, Michael Cahillane.
Linkenhoker said the investigation into the fire was ongoing, but “it appears” that a vehicle may have caught fire in the forestry building’s garage. The bulk of the fire was knocked down in less than an hour, according to Northampton Fire Rescue.
“All students and staff are accounted for. They had been dismissed. It happened almost at dismissal time,” Linkenhoker said, describing the situation as “the perfect storm” for creating a traffic jam but thanking the police for their success in keeping things running smoothly.
“The damage is pretty extensive. There is maybe one section that we might save, but most likely, we’re out of it for the rest of the year,” he said. “Luckily, the rest of the year is 15 more wake-ups, so it’s not long. We’ll figure it out.”
When staff learned early Monday that they would need to relocate students from Building D due to the damaged roof, Linkenhoker said, they “really stepped up” to the challenge.
“It’s a wonderful team here. I really applaud all of them,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better staff and a better school community.”
Asked if the fire would force the school to make emergency repairs like it must do for Building D, Linkenhoker said, “I think so.”
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.