1/25/13 - Fire destroyed the historic Fleming School building in Howell Township Friday morning. Built in 1880, the white-frame building on Grand River, east of Fleming Road, served as a school until 1957. In recent years, the Howell district was using it as a living-classroom to teach children about 19th-century education. Howell Area Fire Authority Chief Andy Pless says when they arrived on the scene, the one-room schoolhouse was engulfed in flames and it took about 45 minutes to get the fire under control but another hour was spent putting out hot spots. All that remains are two side walls and the front of the structure - the entire back and roof were burned away. He says itâs considered a total loss but preliminary indications are that the fire started on the outside of the structure. Pless says while on scene, they noticed a set of footprints leading from the road behind the school up to the back of the school and then back out. Pless says theyâre also looking into whether the school fire is possibly related to another report of a small fire at a bus stop shed at the end of a manâs driveway on County Farm Road in Marion Township that had burned to the ground overnight and was smoldering when his kids went to get on the bus. He notes they also fielded a separate call involving a curb cart/ trash can on fire, just north of the school that was reported late after the fire was already out. Pless says he believes there was also another incident reported north of Fowlerville. All of the reported incidents are considered suspicious in nature and Pless says additional investigation is needed. (JM)
↧