No injuries reported as flames damage new gym

By Brian C. Louwers
C & G Staff Writer

WARREN — A fire official said spray-foam insulation that ignited during construction was the likely cause of a fire that damaged a new gym being built at Warren’s Lincoln High School on March 10.

According to Warren Fire Commissioner Wilburt “Skip” McAdams, units were dispatched to the school at Nine Mile and Federal, east of Van Dyke, at 10:52 a.m. where the northeast section of a new gymnasium under construction caught fire.

“It was a construction accident, no injuries to kids, or construction workers, or firefighters,” McAdams said. “It appears that some form of spray-foam insulation was ignited by a worker.”

McAdams said the insulation has a petroleum base that can burn if left unprotected.

He said a structural engineer would need to inspect the building to determine the full extent of the damage. McAdams added that the steel construction could have been warped if it came into contact with the flames and was heated to a temperature of at least 2000 degrees.

The state fire marshal oversees new school construction, and McAdams said the Warren Fire Department would coordinate with state officials as needed in the wake of the fire.

Students in the area after fire units cleared the scene said classes for the afternoon were cancelled and that only juniors taking ACT tests were in the school when the fire broke out in the new gym, which is not connected to the school. The majority of the school’s students were reportedly due to begin afternoon classes at 11:45 a.m.

District officials were not immediately available for comment.

The gym construction at Lincoln High School is a part of an ongoing series of projects linked to a $62.6-million bond initiative approved by voters in the Van Dyke Public Schools district in 2008. The school’s new media center opened on Jan. 18.

You can reach Staff Writer Brian C. Louwers at brianlouwers@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1089.