Education

Small fire at La Crosse Central traced to HVAC unit

Published

1 year ago

June 21, 2023

La Crosse fire crews were called to Central High School late Wednesday afternoon to respond to a fire alarm.

Battalion Chief Lance Tryggestad says firefighters went into the school, and encountered a light haze in the air. He says they found a room with an HVAC air-handling system inside, giving off heat.

Crews brought a hose line into the building and extinguished the fire in the HVAC unit. Tryggestad says the fire did not spread beyond that room.

La Crosse Central is evacuated because of a fire on Wednesday

No one at the school was injured. Tryggestad says there was a basketball tournament happening at Central at the time, with about 200 people who had to be evacuated.

While firefighters were inside the school, law enforcement was handling a two-car accident on Losey Boulevard in front of Central and the Village Shopping Center.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.