Public address system overheats at new school; no fire damage

A faulty public address system in the communications room sparked an early morning fire at the new Kennett High School in Redstone Tuesday. The fire extinguished itself, but fire officials are crediting technology with helping to keep the hot spot from spreading. Both Conway and North Conway fire departments were toned out for a fire-alarm activation at the new high school, which is set to open on Sept. 4, at 6:45 a.m."When we arrived," Conway Fire Chief Larry Wade said, "there was a light cloud and the smell of smoke (in the main hallway) in the communications closet. Inside, there were light smoke conditions and the smell of electrical wiring. There were no visible flames."Firefighters checked the second-floor room above the closet to make sure the fire had not spread and also removed ceiling tiles in the ground floor rooms next to the closet. "We wanted to make sure it hadn't gone anywhere, and it had not," Wade said. "We used a thermal imaging camera and were able to find the hot spot. It turned out to be one of the computer boards for the public address system caught fire, and fortunately it extinguished itself. "Having the equipment we had certainly helped locate things quickly," he continued. "There was no damage done to the school and the smell of smoke (quickly dissipated). We turned the power off to that area and the public address board was taken apart and replaced (Tuesday afternoon). It all worked out well. The smoke detector system worked like it was suppose to. It also helped to have an up-to-date alarm system, which told you exactly where the fire was. There are over 400 (fire alarm) devices in the building. It was nice not to have to check each one. We physically tested them all a couple of weeks ago and it took six or seven hours.""Everything was under control by 7:15 a.m.," Carl Nelson, school superintendent, said. "Fortunately, all is well that ends well."The Conway Fire and Rescue Department is on a record pace in terms of calls for service in 2007. As of 4 p.m. Tuesday it had responded to 629 calls.