Investigators confident cause will be found

OAKDALE — Investigators believe a fire that destroyed much of Oakdale Elementary School on Wednesday was likely started by an electrical malfunction in a center portion of the school near a computer lab.

State Fire Marshal Chief Deputy Brant Thompson confirmed preliminary findings Friday, but said investigators are continuing to dig through the twisted, charred rubble before issuing an official finding.

“There are also other things in the immediate area that we are looking at, including the air handlers,” Thompson said.

Investigators secured an alarm panel from the remains, and were able to obtain data from it to help pinpoint where the fire started, he said.

Thompson said the investigation has been slow because the structure continued to burn for two days.

“We do believe we will be able to come up with an hypothesis of the actual cause of the fire because we have very good data and were able to see what detection systems went off first,” he said.

Thompson said security measures such as fire walls and safety doors prevented the fire from spreading to an adjacent, newer section of the school.

“The newer section had fire protective equipment and components, and it was able to stand nearly unharmed,” he said. “That is a testament to modern construction and safety features that were activated as needed.”

Little smoke and water damage was reported in that section, which housed the classes for pre-K through first grade.

The part of the school built in 1973 suffered severe fire damage, with a large part of the school being a total loss, he said.

Superintendent Michael Doucet said that about 80 percent of the school was destroyed by the fire, including the library, over a dozen classrooms, the cafeteria and the administrative area. A multipurpose room, which also served as a gym, suffered heavy smoke damage.

The fire was reported at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, shortly after the assistant principal had left the school. No one was in the building at the time of the fire.