After explosion, Carmel High School expected to reopen at end of winter break
CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) – Carmel High School students and staff can expect to return to classes as expected Jan. 8 after an explosion damaged a building on the campus, the superintendent said late Monday afternoon.
Two people were hurt in the explosion about 6:10 p.m. Wednesday on the second floor of the building housing the gymnasium and swimming pool. Indiana Department of Homeland Security said a gas leak that occurred during routine maintenance on two boilers led to the explosion.
The two people hurt, a maintenance employee for the Carmel Clay school district and a contractor, were taken to Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital after the explosion, according to the Carmel Fire Department. Superintendent Michael Beresford said Monday that both men remained hospitalized and “are improving” but he provided no details. The fire department nor the school district have identified the men.
The fire department nor the school district have responded to requests to determine the cost of the damage from the explosion.
In the building where the explosion occurred, power and heat have been restored to all areas except the damaged area of the gymnasium and the Door 17 area, Beresford said in a message to parents Monday. The exposed areas of the roof have also been covers to avoid weather damage. He said crews also are cleaning up debris, rewiring alarms and fixing sprinklers and other safety systems.
The message also said, “Two challenges we are working hard to resolve is replacement of the heater for the pool and the hot-water boilers that serve the athletic area and Greyhound Station,” which serves lunch and breakfast according to the school’s website. “We are pursuing both temporary and permanent solutions to these issues.”
The superintendent said the district’s student services staff is continuing to offer counseling to support students and their families.
A fourth-grade basketball team with the Carmel Dads Club, which was practicing at the school, were among 100 people in the building when the explosion occurred, but no one but the two people working on the heater were physically injured in the blast.
Carmel Athletics Director Jim Inskeep said Thursday that all athletic activities at the school were being postponed or moved to other facilities until further notice.
Inskeep is posting updates on his Twitter account. The athletics director said in a Monday tweet that Friday’s girls basketball game scheduled to be played at Carmel will now be played at Center Grove High School as part of a doubleheader with the boys basketball teams. The freshman, junior varsity and varsity games for the girls and boys teams will be in multiple locations at Center Grove near Greenwood.