Southwest Calgary school evacuated after fire fills building with smoke

Central Memorial High School in southwest Calgary was evacuated for several hours Tuesday after a fire broke out in the theatre and filled the building with smoke.

At 10:05 a.m., staff and students noticed smoke in the theatre of the school on 50th Avenue S.W. just east of Crowchild Trail in the North Glenmore neighbourhood, principal Gord Baldwin wrote in a letter to parents.

The fire alarm was pulled and all students and staff had to evacuate from the school, moving to its neighbouring Career and Technology Centre site, Baldwin said.

He said the Calgary Fire Department arrived and the fire was quickly extinguished.

"All incidents of this nature are fully investigated by CFD. Each situation that arises requires an appropriate level of response to ensure the safety and security of students and staff," Baldwin wrote.

It appeared a light may have been placed too close to a curtain in the drama department, starting a blaze, the fire department said.

Although the fire was small, it created a lot of smoke and took more than an hour for the fire department to ventilate the building fully.

Staff and students were let back into the building at about 12:30 p.m. after firefighters said it was safe.

Classes resumed for the afternoon as scheduled.