A fire that started in a storage room Tuesday caused extensive damage to Shelton High School, raising the possibility that the start of school following the Christmas break might be delayed.
The fire was reported at 12:50 p.m., forcing the evacuation of the high school and interrupting a freshman boys basketball game.
Officials said the fire started in a second-floor storage room where cleaning supplies and paper were kept. It then spread through the ceiling ducts.
Fire Marshal James Tortora and investigators from the State Fire Marshal's office said they had not determined what caused the fire as of late Tuesday afternoon.
The school recently underwent $25 million in renovations, and although the project was dedicated in a ceremony in May, some final work still hadn't been completed.
The portion of the building where the fire started does not have sprinklers. The lack of sprinklers caused controversy this fall when it was discovered the city had no waiver from the state fire marshal to do without sprinklers. Mayor Mark Lauretti recently told a television reporter that sprinklers were not needed because, "The only thing in the building that can burn are people and paper."
A number of people, including Shelton firefighters, were heard quoting the mayor at the fire scene.
The State Fire Marshal's office is expected to release a report soon that says the lack of sprinklers violates the state fire code. But Board of Education member James Orazietti, who was on the scene, said his understanding is that sprinklers are not required in the older part of the building, which was constructed before the state fire code mandated them.
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