A devastating late-night fire left a small community preparatory school with substantial structural and property damage earlier this week, with investigators pointing to a faulty electrical fan as the likely source of the ignition. The blaze broke out just after 9 p.m. on Thursday at Sarah’s Preparatory School, located in the Sunset Ridge neighborhood of La Romaine, triggering chaotic emotional scenes as alarmed parents and young students gathered outside the property while flames tore through two interior rooms of the two-story building.
Local residents who spotted the emergency acted first, attempting to contain and douse the spreading flames before official emergency crews arrived. Firefighters responded swiftly to the scene and ultimately brought the blaze under full control, but the intensity of the fire left large sections of the building gutted, particularly the building’s playroom and adjoining cafeteria space.
Sarah Mohammed, the school’s founding principal who has worked in education for 31 years, told local media outlet *Express* that early estimates put total losses at close to $100,000. Despite the heavy damage, Mohammed made clear she was deeply grateful for the quick action that stopped the fire from spreading further across the entire property, crediting both the immediate diligence of nearby neighbors and the rapid response of local fire department personnel for limiting destruction.
Mohammed explained that the problematic fan was plugged into an electrical outlet inside the school’s children’s playroom, where it had gone undetected as a safety hazard. “Apparently, the fan was faulty and there was a motor spinning at the back, which we did not know. It got overheated and exploded. The entire play area and eating area were gutted. All of the kids’ doll houses, chairs and tables were destroyed. The fire was contained very quickly,” she shared.
For the past five years, Mohammed has operated the school out of the rented Sunset Ridge property, which has grown into a beloved second home for hundreds of students and staff members over that time. She projects that full post-fire cleanup and safety inspections will take approximately one week to complete, after which the school plans to resume normal daily operations at the site.
Remarkably, just one day after the fire, the school went ahead with a long-planned annual community event. Its popular Cultural Day programme, held this year at the nearby Bel Air Play Park, proceeded on schedule as planned, featuring performances from celebrated local pannist Joshua Regrello, the Fire Nation African Dance Troupe, the Woodland Indian Group, and traditional moko jumbie stilt performers.
Speaking on the decision to move forward with the event despite the devastating setback, Mohammed emphasized the importance of honoring the young students’ hard work. “Even though the fire was a setback, the kids have practised for weeks and we cannot disappoint them. Regardless of how I feel, I need to be strong for them,” she said, highlighting the school community’s resolve to bounce back from the unexpected disaster.