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Fire at Lawrence North High School prompts early dismissal

Lawrence North High School
Posted at 12:54 PM, Dec 07, 2022
and last updated 2022-12-07 17:14:39-05

LAWRENCE — Students at Lawrence North High School have been dismissed from classes early after a fire broke out in a second-floor bathroom of the facility.

A statement from the school says all students and staff were safely evacuated from the building.

Buses are picking up students to transport them home. Students will be picked up at the school's football stadium.

Parents who want to pick up their students themselves should meet them at the south end of the building at door 15.

The school says it plans to provide an update at a later time regarding plans for classes Thursday.

Indianapolis Fire Department Batallion Chief Rita Reith says the fire was intentionally set to a paper towel dispenser in a boy's bathroom. Lawrence police are investigating.

The fire was out when crews arrived around 11:45 a.m. to the school, at 7802 Hague Road, Reith said. There was some residual smoke nad water in the second-floor hallway after the fact.

No injuries were reported.

UPDATE:

The student responsible has been identified and arrested. Classes will resume as normal Thursday.

Lawrence North High School Principal, Brett Crousore released the following statement:

LN Families,

As you are aware, we had a fire intentionally set in an upstairs restroom on the northeast end of the building around 11:30 am. Students, Faculty, and Staff are to be commended for their adherence to our safety and security protocols. Currently, the building is being cleaned and we will have school tomorrow. Further, the student responsible for the fire has been identified and arrested.

Evening activities will continue as planned but parts of the building will be closed as crews are cleaning and repairing the impacted area.

We are fortunate to have an amazing faculty and staff at LN that followed our crisis plan. Parents/Guardians, thank you for following the plan as you were too pulled away from important events as a result of this incident. Last, our Transportation Department deserves high praise as they deployed their crisis plan within an hour and had drivers on-site to help our students get home safely. Teamwork is so important at times like this and the Lawrence North/Lawrence Township TEAM did great work today.

Brett Crousore, LN Principal