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Fire damages roof, closes Montmorency School in Rock Falls

ROCK FALLS – Lightning from the weekend’s weird, windy winter thunderstorm may have caused the fire that broke out in an HVAC unit at Montmorency School early Monday, resulting in roof damage that will close the K-8 school until repairs can be made, Superintendent Alex Moore said Wednesday afternoon.

The Rock Falls Fire Department was alerted to the fire by an automatic alarm at the school at 9415 Hoover Road that went off shortly after 2 a.m. Monday, Capt. Kyle Sommers said.

The unit was heavily involved when firefighters arrived; it took an hour or so to completely contain, and three and a half hours to clear the scene, Sommers said.

The wind already had caused some roof damage before the fire, and because of that, Moore had made plans with Sterling Commercial Roofing to be there Monday morning for a consultation, he said.

Since the fire, Sterling Commercial, Loescher Heating & Air Conditioning in Sterling and Complete Electrical Contractors in Rock Falls have “gone above and beyond the call of duty” to offer their services, as the district works with its insurance adjuster to sort things out, Moore said.

He is turning next Monday, which would have been students’ first day back after their holiday break, into a teacher in-service day, and will play the rest of the week by ear, as repairs progress.

Parents are being notified of the situation via email, and once a reopening plan is in place, it will be posted on the school’s Facebook page, Moore said.

“I’m cautiously optimist students will be back in the building sometime next week.”

Source: The Daily Chronicle

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