Classes continue after Marion High School fire

Despite a fire in the building less than 24 hours before, it was business as usual on Monday at Marion High School.

Shortly before 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10, a fire began in one of the building's biology classrooms. By 7:52 p.m. a fire crew had the small fire under control, according to a release from the Marion Fire Department.

An aquarium pump filter system seems to be the cause and Fire Marshal Jason Hansen said crew members could not find any evidence of human error.

"Due to the fire damage we don't know if it's a malfunction or a short," he said. "It's hard to track down to a specific wire when that equipment's all in one bunch."

The aquarium burst and actually helped extinguish the fire but a fish and some crawfish were lost. A teacher, an associate principal and a group of students were in the building -- but not that classroom -- when the fire started but no one was injured. There was also smoke and countertop damage as well.

Sarah Pinion, superintendent of the Marion Independent School District, sent a message to subscribers of the district's email list at 11:08 Sunday evening notifying them of the fire and that school would continue as scheduled Monday.

Neither Pinion nor Hansen had an estimate on the cost of the damage.

"Really, as far as replacement of anything, the only thing would be if there was a need to replace that particular aquarium," she said. "Everything else is just cleaning. There'll probably be some painting."

Pinion also said a sensor on the fire alarm, which functioned properly during the fire, will also need to be replaced.

ServiceMaster employees and district staff were on the scene Sunday night and during the day Monday cleaning the classroom. That teacher has been relocated to different spaces in the building. Pinion did not set a specific date for when the site of the fire would be available to hold classes again.