Custodial staff helped extinguish a small fire at Hampton Elementary School on Tuesday evening.
Hampton Fire Rescue was dispatched to a structure fire in the school’s courtyard area around 8:20 p.m.
Capt. Korey Whitaker said 23 firefighters were already at the fire hall across the street attending a training session.
“As soon as our crews got in our apparatus and we headed out of the fire hall, we could see thick black smoke coming from the area of the elementary school,” Whitaker said in an interview Wednesday morning.
Since crews were already at the fire hall, they were on scene at the school in less than a minute, he said.
“Custodial staff, just as we were arriving, were safely able to get an extinguisher on the fire to knock it down quickly for us, so that did help a lot,” said Whitaker.
Damage from the fire was limited to the exterior wall of the courtyard, he said.
Firefighters remained on the scene for about an hour to ensure the scene was clear before turning the building back over to the school district.
Jessica Hanlon, a spokesperson for the Anglophone South School District, said members of their facilities team set up fans at the school to ensure there was no smell on Wednesday morning.
There is no word yet on what sparked the fire.
