Dryer fire damages Naperville Central HS

A small fire inside a Naperville high school classroom after school Monday caused over $100,000 in damage, according to fire officials.

Firefighters responded to an alarm at Naperville Central High School, 440 W. Aurora Ave., at 4:54 p.m. Monday and found the fire had been extinguished by the school's sprinkler system, but smoke had filled two classrooms, officials said.

The fire started inside a clothes dryer in a storage room between two home economics classrooms on the south side of the school, according to the Naperville Fire Department.

“The smell of smoke in those two classrooms is still pretty strong,” said Naperville Central Principal Bill Weisbrook Monday night. “In the next 24 hours the attention will mostly be on the air quality.”

Classes normally held in the two affected classrooms will likely be relocated for two to three days, he said. Classes in a third room across the hall might also be rescheduled Tuesday due to smoke damage.

There were no injuries, but preliminary damage to the school and classroom contents due to fire, smoke and water are estimated to be in excess of $100,000.

Air purifiers were put in place Monday night as crews tried to ventilate the rooms, Weisbrook said.

The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation.

“Overall, look at the bright side,” he said. “No injuries, no students around when it happened, no significant damage to our school facility.