(Atlantic, Iowa) – The cause of a fire that damaged part of the Atlantic Middle School, Tuesday afternoon, remains undetermined. That was the word from Atlantic Fire Chief Tom Cappel, during a press conference at the Atlantic Fire Station, Wednesday. Cappel said the continued training area fire departments have received prevented a bad situation from getting worse.

The blaze broke out on the roof of the Atlantic Middle School building at around 12:37-p.m. Cappel said the flames were as high as 20-feet on top of the building, along with thick black smoke.

Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber (left), & Fire Chief Tom Cappel (right)

Crews attacked the fire from the ground, shooting water from the hoses to the roof, while a ladder truck was being set-up.

The fire was contained within about an hour. Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber said a dollar amount of the damage has not yet been tabulated. He said first and foremost, he was glad no one got hurt.

Barber said the damage was primarily from water used to fight the flames.

Insurance adjusters and other who are assessing the damage were on the scene Tuesday and today (Wednesday). As soon as they have a figure from mitigation companies, the Atlantic School Board will hold an emergency meeting to accept a “Not to exceed” number, and get the clean-up started.

Many have wondered how soon teachers, staff and others in the district can get back into the building. Mr. Barber said that’s undetermined right now because there is so much yet to do and much taking place behind the scenes.

Firefighters from Atlantic, Lewis, Marne and Griswold were on the scene, along with Cass EMS, Atlantic Police, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Cass County Emergency Management, and the Cass County Drone. Volunteers brought numerous bottles of cold water to help personnel deal with the heat and humidity.