Tacoma firefighters doused a small fire that broke out Monday inside a staff kitchen at Lowell Elementary School in the North End.
The fire started just before 1:15 p.m. inside a secondary building at the school at 810 N. 13th St. The blaze is not considered suspicious, Fire Department spokesman Joe Meinecke said.
The fire was contained inside the kitchen, which sustained about $40,000 in damage, Meinecke said.
The fire happened after a staff member left a pan of oil on the stove after cooking french fries for lunch, Tacoma Public Schools spokesman Dan Voelpel said. The staff member is not a teacher.
Classes at the school and others in the School District were canceled Monday because of the teachers strike.
The building where the fire occurred contains some primary-grade classrooms. They were not damaged.
“We were right there when the glass just exploded,” said Griffin Young, one of several kids on the playground when the fire occurred.
Eighth-grader Grayson Warren saw smoke coming from the building. He heard the alarm sounding and saw a staff member running with a fire extinguisher.
“It got pretty big fast,” said Grayson, who went to Lowell.
Stacey Mulick and Debbie Cafazzo, staff writers
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