Glenbard South hopes to hold classes Friday

No one was hurt early this morning when a power outage at Glenbard South High School in Glen Ellyn indirectly led to a small fire, officials said.

Classes for today were canceled after the school lost power about 4:45 p.m. Wednesday due to what officials thought was a transformer failure.

An auxiliary generator immediately came on, providing light to the hallways of the largely windowless building, said Terri Hanrahan, the school's principal.

The generator fed to a flue pipe that overheated around 1 a.m., sparking a fire in the insulation over a maintenance garage, Lisle-Woodridge Deputy Fire Chief Keith Kreston said.

Fire alarms didn't go off, Hanrahan said. Kreston said ComEd crews working outside noticed the fire and called police.

The Lisle-Woodridge firefighters were assisted by crews from Wheaton and Downers Grove. The flames were extinguished in about 15 minutes.

"It was a very, very minor incident," Kreston said.

The flue pipe should have been able to handle the heat, he said.

"It's designed to, but sometimes things happen," Kreston said.

Meanwhile, compliance officers from the DuPage Regional Office of Education and Glenbard High School District 87 own architectural engineering crew today will inspect the building to certify that its safety systems are working, Hanrahan said.

She said Glenbard South will "almost certainly" hold classes Friday, an early dismissal day.

The school is asking parents and students to check Glenbard South's Web site, www.glenbard.net/glenbard_south, for updates. Information about after-school events will be posted on the site.