Right place, right time: Firefighters spot flames inside school, stop them from spreading

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Action News Jax is learning more about a fire that broke out inside a private school next to a church in the Panama Park neighborhood. It shut down traffic along Main Street for hours on Tuesday morning.

A spokesperson for Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department says firefighters were driving on Main Street on their way back from a medical call at around 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, when they spotted the flames inside a building. It turned out to be the private school Austin Vocational Christian Academy. They saved the structure, and the church next to it.

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”Smoke was billowing everywhere,” neighbor Nick Klepac recalled seeing. “We saw the fire department immediately show up,” he described. “There must’ve been like 20 different trucks.”

Klepac credits their quick thinking with saving the buildings next to it.

”If they would’ve had to wait for our 911 call, they probably would’ve lost a couple of buildings,” he pointed out.

That also includes the Greater Israel United M.B. Church. A breezeway connects it to the school.

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”They have a school and then they have church on Sundays,” Klepac shared, noting that the school was out for winter break.

A spokesperson for JFRD confirmed the fire started inside a storage closet on the first floor.

Though it made its way up to the second floor, firefighters stopped it from spreading to the attic.

Despite fire damage, JFRD says the building was not a total loss.

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The State Fire Marshall is now investigating what caused it, But Klepac is more concerned with its long-lasting effects.

”The most devastating part is that they’re about halfway through the school year,” he acknowledged. “So, are they gonna have enough facilities to continue those classes?” he wondered out loud, adding, “I just hope everything comes out ok for them.”

A spokesperson for JFRD confirmed no one was injured as a result of this fire.

Action News Jax tried to speak to the owner of this building, but she didn’t want to comment.

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