(Photo by Jake Forbes)

Special education teacher Paul Connolly put out a small fire in the second floor boys athletic wing bathroom Wednesday afternoon. Students and faculty evacuated the building, and no one was injured.
Students lit one of the dispensers in the bathroom on fire, resulting in smoke filling the athletic wing, according to vice principal Amy Winston. She added that Connolly used a nearby extinguisher to put out the fire at about 2 p.m.
“Coach Connolly stomped on the fire like he does in the games,” athletic director Tom Giusti said.
After a fire alarm was pulled, the fire department arrived and cleared the smoke.
Students indicated the location of the fire to Winston soon after the alarm was pulled.
“That is exactly what we want from students, letting us know where it is so we can handle the situation better,” Winston said.
Students returned to their G-Block classes around 2:30 p.m. The second floor athletics wing remained closed to students until after school hours. The bathroom remains closed as of the end of school Friday.
The administration is still seeking the students involved in causing the fire. “We have cameras all over the building, and we use those to figure out who did it,” Winston said.
Winston asked the student body to aid in this investigation. “When students know something, they need to step up and share what they know,” she said, “We need a student who knows something to say something.”
When asked about his actions, Connolly responded, “the only fire I’m aware of is the one at [tonight’s] basketball game,” where he will be coaching the Tigers.