An odd day for Saugus schools

SAUGUS – Saugus Public Schools had an unusual day Monday, as a canine drug sweep at the high school caused a social media commotion, while a weekend fire in a kitchen closed Belmonte Middle School for the day.According to Donna Anderson, secretary to Principal Michael Hashem, sniffing dogs come to the school to search for drugs on the campus and parking lot every year, but some parents were concerned.?It?s routine,” Anderson said. “There?s been no lockdown. Nothing. I?ve gotten a couple of calls from concerned parents, which we have no problem with. I would do, too if my kids were here.”Hashem said he planned not to notify students or parents prior, as that would defeat the purpose. He sent out an email afterwards.?It?s a random drug sweep,” Hashem said. “Police collaborated with canine units in the area to drug-sweep common areas of the building and parking lot. There were nine to 10 dogs.”Hashem said the search is done biannually around this time of the academic year.?They didn?t find any (drugs),” Hashem said. “They were in the building for about 45 minutes and then went into the parking lot.”The sweep caused talk on Facebook, which added to the town?s concern.Meanwhile, Anderson said, Belmonte closed before first period began due to the weekend fire.?There?s no way they?re able to feed the kids,” Anderson said. “And the odor was too strong.”According to fire incident reports, it was an electrical fire that was ignited by a portable fan. It was too small to activate the wet-pipe sprinkler system. Soot remained, but the fire itself was extinguished prior to the Fire Department?s arrival.?The entire cafeteria, the kitchen area along with the eating areas were covered with soot,” Lt. James Hughes said. “The metal remains of a box fan were found on the floor of the kitchen; the plastic parts had burned or melted, leaving a plastic residue on the floor. The fan was unplugged from the outlet.”Hughes said Superintendent Michael Tempesta, who was on scene, advised that no cooking or eating could happen in the area until the town health agent arrived and clean-up was complete.?Because it was in the kitchen, we have to clean and sanitize everything,” Tempesta said. “Anything that was open had to be restored.?No one knew,” Tempesta said. “The fire could have ruined the building. I could still smell the soot when I arrived in the morning.”School opens at Belmonte at 7:30 a.m., and he asked students to remain in their home rooms before boarding buses and cars at 8 a.m. All students were cleared by 9 a.m., and cleaning crews, ServiceMaster Restore and Continental Clean Air were on deck Monday and were to remain there today as well, purifying the air and restoring vents.Students will eat lunch in the gym today and until further notice.The blaze was contained to the square fan unit.?There was a pretty big mess in the kitchen,” Fire Deputy Chief Mike Newbury said. “We traced it back to the fan. It vibrated off the table and fell onto the ground.”?The soot covered half of a football field,” he said.Contents loss was estimated to be $25,000. No injuries were reported.Hughes said there was enough heat to cause distortion to a plastic lens on the light directly above the fire location.Newbury said the fire was electrical in nature, and there was no heat left over to set off the sprinkler.A smoke detector to warn of the fire was purposely not placed in the kitchen.?We don?t put smoke detectors in kitchens, because they?d go off all the time, like at your house,” Newbury said.