Mary Randall Preschool closed Tuesday afternoon after the air-conditioning unit caused the building to fill with smoke.
Wikimedia Commons | Courtesy
No children were in Mary Randall Preschool when smoke wafted from the mechanical room about midday last Monday, prompting the school to cancel afternoon classes.
“There was a malfunction with the mechanics of the air-conditioning unit,” Director of Early Education at Mary Randall Preschool Sonja Bindus said. “There weren’t flames, but there was a lot of smoke, so we quickly evacuated the building.”
No one was hurt during the incident, and it caused no damage to the building. Preschool staff have ordered two replacement parts for the air-conditioning unit that caused the incident. The school resumed normal hours Tuesday.
At 12:30 p.m., teachers smelled something like a “burning tire,” Bindus said. They contacted 911 and evacuated the building.
“We were getting things prepped, when we realized something was wrong,” Bindus said. “We were just eating lunch, and we smelled something funny and began investigating. There was quite a smell.”
The Hillsdale Fire Department responded immediately. Firefighters cleared the building of smoke, ensured nothing else ignited in other parts of the building, and left around 1:30 p.m.
“When the parents arrived to drop off the children, we just flagged them down and sent them home,” Bindus said.
Senior Emily Wolfert, a student teacher at the preschool, was present at the time of the incident.
“It was actually my lead week, so I was in charge of everything, and it was my first day, so that was a bit crazy,” Wolfert said. “But it all worked out pretty well.”
Mary Randall Preschool typically has two sessions each day: A morning session begins at 8:45 a.m. and lasts until 11:30 a.m., and an afternoon session starts at 12:45 p.m. and ends around 3:30 p.m. The fire occurred in between the two.
“The children weren’t here yet,” Bindus said. “We were thankful it all happened just before the children got here.”
