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Crews battle Sunday morning fire at Browsburg elementary school, baby chicks saved

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BROWNSBURG — On Sunday morning, Brownburg Fire Territory crews responded to a fire at Cardinal Elementary School in Brownsburg.

The fire department said they were called to the school around 7 am for reports of smoke coming from the roof.

Crews were able to extinguish the fire and minimize damage quickly, they said.

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According to the fire department the roof was the only damaged part of the building and 8 classrooms were exposed to water damage. The fire did not penetrate the building, they said.

There were no injuries reported from the fire. The building was empty except for baby chicks that had recently hatched in a first grade classroom.

"We are happy to say the chicks were relocated to an unaffected part of the building and are doing just fine," the fire department posted on Facebook.

A teacher that went to check on the baby chicks noticed the smoke and called 911, the department said.

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In a statement to students and staff, Cardinal Elementary school said that the fire is believed to be caused by a lightening strike.

Early Sunday morning, there was a fire in the roof deck at Cardinal. Brownsburg Fire Territory and other local agencies responded to the scene and quickly extinguished the fire. At this time the fire was believed to be caused by a lightning strike. The fire was contained to the roof and there is no fire damage to classrooms. Any classroom damage was caused by water. BCSC staff is at Cardinal assessing the building and working to get things cleaned up. The water damage was contained to 1st grade and high ability classrooms. At this time we anticipate school will start on time tomorrow for all Cardinal students. We've identified new classroom spaces for students in 1st grade and high ability to have class tomorrow.

We will provide an additional update this afternoon to confirm that school will be in session.
Vicki Murphy BCSC Communications Coordinator