DERRY — The damage caused by fire to the science building at Pinkerton Academy won’t delay the back to school date, said school officials.
Head of School Timothy Powers said while the school is still assessing the extent of the damage from the fire, the school will still be starting on Aug. 28 for grades nine through 10 and Aug. 29 for grades 11 to 12.
“We are still assessing the damage but it seems confined to the middle portion of the building,” Powers said.
The Derry Fire Department said the calls about the fire came in at 2:22 p.m. on Aug. 1. The fire appeared to be on the roof, with smoke inside the third floor.
Pinkerton Academy said a contractor performing renovations on the Bradford V. Ek Science Building was the person who called in the fire, saying he smelled smoke.
Firefighters worked on controlling the fire from the roof and the third floor while the Derry Police Department focused on evacuating the first and second floors of the building.
Pinkerton officials said due to the renovations, there were no staff or students inside the building at the time of the fire. The fire department said in a statement that the building was minimally occupied, mostly by workers, and that there were no injuries.
The fire was under control at 3 p.m.
Pinkerton officials said there had been welding work being done to the roof that is believed to have started the fire.
Officially, Derry Fire Marshal David Eastman is still investigating the fire, but said it does not appear to have been suspicious. He did not say the welding was what caused the fire, but did say it started in an area where there was construction on the roof.