Livonia, N.Y. - Fire severely damaged the Livonia Primary School Thursday morning just before 11am.
Kids at a summer recreation program happened to be on a field trip and away from the building when it caught fire.
A campus wide roofing project was underway and appears to be the source of the fire. The chemicals and materials also appeared to fuel the flames and thick, black smoke.
For more than an hour, fire crews poured water on one wing of the school where they were able to contain the fire. Inside that wing of the school several classrooms suffered significant damage.
15 volunteer fire companies were on the scene at the height of the fire with more than 20 mobilized across Livingston County to help cover for crews on the scene.
Assistant Fire Chief Brad Austin from the Livonia Fire Department tells 13WHAM News that it appears accidental in nature and a generator on the roof is the likely cause of the fire. The roofers were the first to call 911 and warn others about the fire.
Two employees, part of a cleaning and painting crew, happened to be in the classrooms just below the roofers when it broke out.
Deb Mulligan, who escaped from the building, said, "We were cleaning and we were right underneath the guys and they were making all that noise and all of a sudden they come running down the hall 'fire, fire!' So I ran and told everybody and screamed as loud as I could to get them out of there."
No injuries were reported. Hours after the fire, one person, believe to be one of the roofers, was taken to the hospital for symptoms likely related to heat exhaustion.
