About 800 students between Grades 10 and 12 have been evacuated from Lacombe Composite High School Monday after a staff member detected smoke in the northeast quadrant of the building around 1 p.m.
There are no injuries and the fire was put out just before 2 p.m.
A six-person roofing crew had been working in the morning on part of a $25-million, three-year renovation project at the school.
Nobody was on the roof at the time of the fire. The work crew was returning from lunch when they saw the smoke as well.
Wolf Creek Public Schools superintendant Larry Jacobs said it’s too early to know what caused the fire.
He said it’s also too early to know the extent of damage inside the school, but he thinks there will be extensive smoke and water damage as the school’s sprinkler system went off.
Jacobs estimated the school will be closed for three or four days as the inside damage is assessed.
He will meet with Lacombe officials later Monday to try and make arrangements to hold classes in facilities such as the Lacombe Memorial Centre.
Other schools in the district are full, Jacobs said.
See full story in Tuesday's Red Deer Advocate!