Paul Bass Photos
Firefighters attend to business at the front of Troup Monday …
… while students enjoy an outdoor rest-of-the-day behind the building.
Augusta Lewis Troup students will spend Tuesday at the Hillhouse Fieldhouse, not at their regular Edgewood Avenue school, after a fire left smoke damage throughout the building.
The fire broke out in a second-floor boys bathroom at 11:55 a.m., according to Assistant Fire Chief Justin McCarthy.
He said the fire did not spread beyond the bathroom, and no one at the K‑8 school was injured. Firefighters were investigating the cause of the fire.
The approximately 420 students present Monday were taken out to the field behind the school, where they spent the rest of the day, amid clear, comfortable fall weather.
Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey announced at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting that while the fire was contained to the bathroom, it did leave smoke damage in other parts of the building. That’s why the students will be at the fieldhouse Tuesday, while a crew will clean up the damage inside Troup. Students will have a half day, not a full day, at the fieldhouse.