A small fire that broke out early Thursday morning in the Waukesha North High School fieldhouse has forced the school to close through the weekend.
"Because the fire department and school personnel are still trying to secure the building and get the levels of air quality back to normal from this fire, we have made the decision with consult from district officials, to close North High School effective immediately and through the weekend," read a message to North employees, parents and students.
No students, parents, coaches or any school personnel will be allowed into the high school as a pre-cautionary measure, the message read.
The school's early-bird iPad rollout for Thursday has been canceled. The district is implementing iPads at four schools for the 2013-14 school year.
At about 4:50 a.m., the City of Waukesha Dispatch Center received a call from the staff at Linden Grove Nursing Home, 2330 Michigan Ave., that they could see strobe lights activated at Waukesha North High School, 2222 Michigan Ave.
Units from Station 5 investigated the scene and after they saw a small fire, units from Stations 1, 3 and 4 were called to assist in the structure fire.
After the fire was quickly extinguished, Battalion Chief Steve Ore of the Waukesha Fire Department said there was still a large volume of smoke in the gym, some of the classrooms and hallways in the hours after the fire.
The fire damage was limited to the area of an exit door, Ore said.
As a result, crews were still on the scene ventilating the building five hours after the fire.
The school was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no firefighter injuries were reported, Ore said.
Investigators from both the police and fire departments are still on the scene and the investigation is ongoing.
A property damage estimate was not available at this time, Ore said.
Waukesha North is in the midst of getting a new wood floor this summer, replacing its synthetic rubber surface.