Incident # 24-09781 - Fire-Rescue and Sheriff's Office units responded to the Hendersonville Elementary School Wednesday afternoon 11-December at 13:16. Colleton County Sheriff's Office School Resource Officers (SRO's) detected the presence of smoke in one of the break rooms on the 100 hallway. They immediately notified Fire-Rescue, activated the fire alarm, and started the evacuation process. In addition, the SRO's provided real-time updates that aided Fire-Rescue. Engine 1 arrived to find no visible signs from the exterior of the building, however there was the smell of smoke with a light haze in several classrooms and the hall in the north end of the large facility. School officials, and members from the Sheriff's Office had already safely evacuated the children and staff from the building and fire doors had automatically closed protecting the rest of the structure. Firefighter-Paramedics removed ceiling tiles in several rooms searching for the source. School district facilities management personnel arrived quickly and worked with responders to locate the problem. The facilities personnel located a burned out blower motor in a HVAC unit on the roof. The smoke from the damaged motor had been carried into several classrooms through the A/C duct work. It was determined that there was no fire damage to the building. It was raining and temperatures were in the 40s, since the problem area was isolated to the 100 hall, the children were accompanied by Fire-Rescue and were escorted into the opposite end of the school, where it was safe from the elements. School was dismissed a short time later at the normal time, Fire-Rescue would like to thank the parents for showing patience, remaining calm and orderly. Teachers gathered the children's belongings and brought them to the safe area where parents and buses were able to pick up the children. The teachers and staff did a great job during the emergency and the regularly practiced fire drills paid off with the safe evacuation. No injuries were reported.
