Odessa Fire Rescue Interim Chief Jason Cotton said Wednesday afternoon the fire on the rooftop of the physical education building on the campus of Odessa High School was caused by a hot tar kettle.
Cotton said over the phone the hot tar kettle had caught fire and caused what he called minimal yet “impressive” damage.
“It was a lot more impressive looking than it actually was,” Cotton explained. “Tar puts off a dark, thick, dense smoke. They had recently re-tarred the roof and when all that tar caught fire it made it look bigger than it was.”
Ector County ISD issued a press release on Tuesday evening that detailed there were no injuries, it appears to have been accidental and it looks like damage is minimal. Cotton said the fire didn’t burn through the roof.
Cotton said OFR units were dispatched at 8:09 p.m. Tuesday and arrived at the scene two minutes and 21 seconds later.
The final unit cleared the scene at 9:21 p.m. Cotton said once the units arrived at the scene the fire was put out within a matter of minutes. He said his crew did a great job and quickly putting out the fire.
“That could have turned into something real bad if we wouldn’t have been aggressive and taken care of the problem,” Cotton said.
ECISD Chief Communications Officer Mike Adkins told the Odessa American via email “damage to the building was minimal and we expect it all to be repaired before the end of this week.”
All ECISD schools and offices are closed this week for spring break.
