Early Morning Fire at Vacant Battle Creek Junior High Causes Damage
Investigators in Battle Creek are looking into what caused a fire at a former junior high early Thursday morning.
Battle Creek firefighters responded to the former Southwestern Junior High on South Washington Avenue shortly after 2:30 a.m. on April 22nd. The fire was located on the second floor of the three-story building, and was later identified as the band room. The room is located on the main floor, as one floor of the building, built in 1927, is underground.
Firefighters from four stations were on the call to put the fire out, with the fire contained to the band room and smoke damage throughout the building.
According to property records, Battle Creek Public Schools has continued to own the building since the school closed in 2009 and several business opportunities were opposed or fell through. The school district was expected to sell the property in 2016 when the board approved the building to become apartments in a narrow decision to Summit Building Services, a construction company from Springfield. City records show that in June of 2017, the property was back in the school district's possession and was never sold to SBS.
We have reached out to Battle Creek Public Schools and yet to receive a comment related to the incident.
The investigation into what caused the fire and how much damage is being determined.