Fire at Warsaw Schools' bus garage cancels classes

Classes at Warsaw Community schools were canceled Thursday morning after a major fire at the district's transportation building on East 200 North in Warsaw.

Two employees called 911 around 5:45 a.m. after arriving to smoke and flames at the garage.

"One of our employees heard an alarm go off, went to open the door to go into the shop area and realized there was a lot of smoke," said Superintendent David Hoffert.

Seven fire departments responded to the scene.

Dr. Hoffert cancelled classes for the day.

"It was just not safe to get our buses on the road," said Hoffert.

Four buses were destroyed and another was damaged.

The cause is still under investigation.

"The complete investigation could take days, possibly weeks because of the intense nature of the fire," said Sergeant Chad Hill of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department.

No one was injured and foul play is not suspected.

Dr. Hoffert says the district just got six new buses on Wednesday. He says that should help them get students to school for class on Friday.

"They were just delivered to us yesterday afternoon, thankfully those were not the buses that were inside of the building," said Dr. Hoffert.

The fleet is complete and ready for school on Friday.

"We’re scurrying around this afternoon for sure to make sure everything is prepared and good to go for tomorrow morning. But at this point we hope to be going on time," said Hoffert.

Hoffert says other districts in the area are offering support and assistance.

"We’ve been answering the phone all morning with people offering locations to set up temporary location for our bus garage. The local school corporations around this area have offered everything from their mechanics to extra busses if we need them," Dr. Hoffert said.

The district did have insurance and everything will be replaced.

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