Swansea Fire Department extinguishes fire at Joseph Case High School

SWANSEA — Chief Eric Hajder reports that the Swansea Fire Department extinguished a fire at the Joseph Case High School on Thursday afternoon. 

At just before 3:00 p.m., the Swansea Fire Department received an automated box alarm indicating smoke inside the Joseph Case High School.

The first companies to arrive at the scene found a smoke condition in and around the ceiling of a first floor hallway, and soon discovered a fire burning in a storage room off of that hallway.

Students had already been dismissed for the day so there were no students in the building.

Companies stretched several hoselines into the first floor hallway and were able to contain the fire to the storage room where it started. There were no reported injuries.

The school suffered fire damage in the storeroom and smoke damage throughout the first floor hallway. School will be closed on Friday so damage can be cleaned up. 

Firefighters from Warren, R.I., and Rehoboth covered Swansea fire stations while companies battled the fire. 

The cause remains under investigation by the Swansea Fire Department and the State Police Fire and Explosion Unit attached to the State Fire Marshal’s Office, but it preliminarily appears to be accidental. 

“Companies did a great job stretching multiple handlines into the building, finding the seat of the fire, and containing the fire to a single storeroom,” said Chief Hajder. “This fire could have been much worse without the quick action of the companies that responded.”