The Trenton Times published the following article on October 17, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Smoke condition in Trenton Central High School caused by short circuit due to water leak
By Alex Zdan/The Times
on October 17, 2013 at 10:09 PM, updated October 17, 2013 at 10:14 PMTRENTON — Problems at Trenton Central High School continued this morning when a short circuit due to a water leak caused a smoke condition that forced a brief evacuation of the building, fire officials said.
A secretary pulled the fire alarm around 11:30 a.m. after smelling smoke, which was revealed to be coming from the first floor boy’s bathroom in Building C, Battalion Chief Frank Fanning said. Firefighters who investigated found the light fixture in the bathroom had shorted out.
“The janitor said it was a water leak from the day before,” Fanning said.
Water from the second-floor leak, which may have been caused from an overflow on the floor above, compromised the circuit and led to the smoke. Building staff disconnected the electricity to the fixture, but the smoke was light enough that firefighters did not need to use fans to vent it from the bathroom, Fanning said.
Officials, students and parents have complained about the deteriorating conditions of the 81-year-old school. Fanning, who worked at Engine 7 nearby early in his career but had not been inside the school in years, called the conditions “deplorable.”