FEBRUARY 18, 2015
BANGOR, MAINE
A firefighter was injured Wednesday morning
while fire crews battled a blaze at John Bapst Memorial High School caused by a
maintenance worker using a torch to melt ice on the roof of the iconic building
on Broadway. (The use of torch to melt ice on the roof is beyond prohibited; it is plain and simply stupid, stupid, stupid).
Bangor firefighter John York was hurt when a portion of
ceiling fell on him inside the building as he worked to extinguish the flames.
The fire at the school was reported shortly after 11 a.m.,
and York was injured at about 11:30 a.m. Witnesses saw firefighters carrying a
gurney down from the second floor balcony where York had been working.
Bangor Fire Chief Tom Higgins said the injured firefighter
was conscious and alert when he was taken from the building.
York was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center and was
released about 4:15 p.m., a hospital spokesman said.
The fire broke out near the back of the building, in the
roof above the left-side balcony in the school’s auditorium, according to
Higgins. The roof juts out below the windows to the school’s third-floor
biology laboratories.
The fire started when a member of the school’s maintenance
staff used a propane torch to melt snow and ice off that portion of the roof,
Sgt. Tim York of the state fire marshal’s office said Wednesday afternoon.
The fire was “clearly accidental,” said York, who did not
release the worker’s name and is not related to the injured firefighter.
John York was working under that section of roof inside the
building when he was injured, Higgins said.
“They’ve done a lot of cutting and digging, and there’s some
concern about more collapses inside because of the way the fire burned inside,”
the chief added.
At least eight engines from several towns and multiple
ambulances went to the school. One ladder truck managed to maneuver into a
narrow parking lot behind the school, giving crews close access to the roof
that was burning.
Crews had the fire under control at about 1 p.m. and began
pulling their equipment out of the building.
School officials had few details about their plan moving
forward.
School was not in session Wednesday because of February
vacation, and no students were in the building. About a dozen school staff were
working and evacuated the building safely after the fire alarms went off,
according to Principal David Armistead. Those employees were allowed back into
the building at about 1 p.m. to collect their belongings, Higgins said.
Armistead said school officials were trying to determine the
extent of the damage and what would need to be done in order for school to
resume on time next week. They have not yet determined the cost of the damage.
There likely is water damage to the area around the
auditorium and the level below, which includes the gym. Firefighters had to
tear down portions of the ceiling to get to the blaze. The high school building
opened in 1928.
Members of the school board and some administrators were at
the building discussing their next steps.
Higgins said the response could have been much more
complicated had school been in session. More than 500 students would have had
to evacuate and find places to keep warm. Firetrucks would have struggled to
get near the building if more cars had been parked along Broadway or in the
school’s rear parking area.
Traffic was shut down on Broadway in the vicinity of the
school, and police were asking people to avoid the area.
York is president of the Professional Bangor Firefighters union,
International Association of Firefighters Local 772.
Bangor firefighters, city officials and others were posting
well-wishes on York’s Facebook page within a couple hours of his injury.
“Thinking of you brother,” one Bangor firefighter said in a
post.
“So glad you’re okay!” another friend said in a post.