Lightning strike causes roof fire at Brownsburg elementary school

Sunday’s fire that damaged the roof of a Brownsburg elementary school was likely caused by lightning, according to district officials.

Crews from Brownsburg Fire Territory were dispatched to the Cardinal Elementary School on Hornaday Road at 7 a.m. The school is located to the east of State Road 267 and south of U.S. Route 136.

Firefighters swiftly contained the blaze and prevented it from spreading beyond the roof. There were eight classrooms with water damage, but none with fire damage.

According to a letter sent to parents, Brownsburg Community School Corporation personnel will assess the damage to the building and spend Sunday clearing up.

“At this time, we anticipate that school will start on time on Monday for all Cardinal students,” the letter to parents stated. “We’ve identified new classrooms for first-grade and high-ability students to begin classes tomorrow.”

There were no injuries and no one was in the building at the time of the incident, except for some recently hatched chicks in a first-grade classroom, according to a Facebook post by Brownsburg incident Territory.

“We are pleased to report that the chicks have been relocated to an unaffected section of the building and are doing well,” the fire department wrote.

According to the fire department, the incident was reported by a teacher who went to the school to check on the chicks, saw the smoke, and called 911.