Schools

UPDATE: Sparks from Grinding Metal Started Fire at King's Ridge Christian School

The Kendrick Center for Life Impact was damaged when a fire started in the roof.

UPDATE: The cause of the fire at King's Ridge Christian School's Kendrick Center for Life Impact was a construction worker was grinding on a piece of metal. Sparks from that work struck some foaming material and caught fire, said George Gordon, spokesman for the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety.

Milton and Alpharetta firefighters remained at King's Ridge Christian SchoolΒ  Thursday afternoon, trying to extinguish what appears to be an accidental fire in one of two new buildings under construction.

The fire started in the roof of the Kendrick Center for Life Impact, a 4,000-square-foot building located next to the new high school building.

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The call came in to the Alpharetta 911 Dispatch Center at 10:18 a.m., when a construction worker called to report the roof fire. Alpharetta and Milton firefighters responded and were on scene within minutes.

When the fire crews arrived, "they observed heavy smoke and flames originating from a structure at the top of the roof, and they began to battle the blaze," said George Gordon, spokesman for the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety.

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Only construction workers were inside the building when the fire began. Students, teachers and staff aren't expected to be using the building until the fall, when construction on both buildings is completed.

Headmaster C. David Rhodes said early Thursday afternoon that he was told it was a small welding fire that was quickly contained. Since then, investigators clarified that it was started by sparks from grinding metal.

At 12:15 p.m. Thursday crews were still on the roof and the ground around the Kendrick Center, working to put out the fire.


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