School's out for Mahone Bay students after paper dispenser catches fire
All primary classes at Bayview Community School in Mahone Bay, N.S., have been cancelled this week after a bathroom paper dispenser caught fire Tuesday morning.
A student in one primary class told their teacher they heard a loud bang around 9 a.m. The teacher saw smoke and flames coming from a bathroom attached to the classroom and ordered everyone out.
The school, which has students from primary to Grade 9, was evacuated and no one was hurt. All students were dismissed at 10:45 a.m.
Mahone Bay Fire Department officials told CBC News the cause of the fire was equipment failure.
"These are pretty common paper dispensers. It's an automated paper dispenser, so it does have batteries in it to operate and a small motor," said Brian Smith, director of operations for the South Shore Regional School Board.
He said the school will be checking other paper dispensers in the building.
A spokesperson for SCA, the dispenser's manufacturer, said the company has never had any issues or recalls with the model, which has been on the market for two years.
Fire damage was limited to the bathroom, Smith said, but sprinklers that went off caused some water damage in five other classrooms in that part of the school.
Cleanup will take about a week, Smith said. Classes for non-primary students will resume Wednesday.
