Director of Greene Co. Schools hopeful for students return following South Greene fire

GREENE COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) -Students at South Greene High School were excused from classes on Friday following a fire in the school gym Thursday night .

At around 7 p.m. on Thursday, the South Greene Volunteer Fire Department received a call from someone who saw smoke coming from the building.

“We had a firefighter on the scene in approximately three minutes, and he reported smoke coming from the roof of the gym area,” said David Weems, Fire Chief for the South Greene VFD.

Upon entering the building, Weems said they noticed smoke from the school gym.

“Figherfighters discovered near zero visibility in the gym area,” Weems said. “And there was a small fire in the area leading into the locker room. Fortunately, they were able to extinguish the fire very quickly.”

Although the fire was isolated to the locker room, residual smoke affected the rest of the school.

The fire was located at the entrance to the locker room, and it had extended into a locker room area where there were some laundry lockers,” said Weems. “The primary damage was in that area. However, the smoke from the fire did spread throughout the school.”

Because of the smoke, David McLain, Greene County Schools director, said classes on Friday were canceled for the safety of the students.

“We didn’t want to put our kids back in that environment,” said McLain. “I do know when first responders got there, the fire department, the gym doors were closed and were locked. We had an assistant principal there that did show up about the same time firefighters got there [and] let them in. Of course, when that happened, then smoke went into the whole school.”

McLain confirmed no one was in the building at the time of the fire. He added that he hopes the students will be able to return to school on Monday and extends his gratitude to the first responders.

“[I’m] just thankful for the first responders,” said McLain. “The volunteer fire [departments], those guys were great. Those guys work hard, and we certainly appreciate what they did last night.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.