Small fire in Corner High theater causes evacuation Friday

A small fire which broke out in the theater of Corner High School briefly sent students out into the cold outdoors on Friday morning.

Principal Ronald Cooper said that crews setting up for a beauty pageant accidentally placed a piece of lighting equipment too close to a curtain.

“The curtain was flame-retardant, so it didn’t break out into flames, but it was turning red from the heat,” Cooper said.

Once school officials determined that the main classroom wing was not in danger, they brought students back in out of the cold. There were no injuries associated with the incident. The fire did not affect the finals of the Jefferson County Small Schools Basketball Tournament, which were held in the gymnasium next door on Friday night.

Cooper said clean-up crews were working to make sure the theater was back in shape to hold the Miss Yellow Jacket Pageant. which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday.

It’s the second time this month that a fire has affected students at a Corner school. On January 9, students were evacuated at the old high school facility, now home to kindergarten through eighth grade, when a fire broke out in a heating unit. Students were moved over to the gymnasium across the street. No injuries were reported there, and that fire was also quickly put out.