A fire in the late hours of July 29 caused significant damage to front offices at the Winnetka School District 36 offices on Oak Street, according to a news release from the district and information from the Winnetka Fire Department.
The fire department arrived to the offices at 1235 Oak Street at 11:31 p.m. and extinguished the fire within 20 minutes, according to Village Communications Liaison Josie Clark. Beyond the damage to the front offices, windows, doors, drywall and ceiling tiles suffered significant smoke and water damage.
No one was on site when the fire began read the D36 news release. An investigation into the fire’s cause found an under-mount LED cabinet light installed during the building’s 2008 renovation started the fire.
” It is apparent that this was an unfortunate random occurrence and not due to ongoing construction, unsafe conditions in the office or foul play,” read a Friday statement from D36 Superintendent Kelly Tess. “These lights have been removed throughout the offices in order to avoid any future issue of this kind.”
No dollar amount was available and it remains unknown as to how long remediation work will take.
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District employees will continue to work remotely while the damage is assessed and cleanup proceeds. Families can still contact district officials by email and phone as they prepare for the upcoming school year set to begin on Sept. 3.
Thank you again to the Winnetka Fire Department for their responsiveness and ongoing partnership, as well as to the other North Shore Fire Departments who assisted on the scene,” said Tess. “We look forward to a return to business as usual as soon as possible.”