Stanley Humphries evacuated after minor fire

Students at Stanley Humphreys Secondary School were briefly evacuated this morning after a fire in a washroom garbage can set off the school's alarms.

Fire Chief Gerry Rempel said he got that call at 11:54 a.m., and by the time he spoke to The Source at 12:21 p.m., students had been allowed back in the school.

"They (school staff) did a fine job of evacuating the students," he said. "There was a bit of a fire in a garbage can - we're estimating about $500 damage. It was in one of the washrooms, and damaged the garbage can, a paper-towel dispenser, that kind of thing."

No one was injured.

Rempel said the fire was likely an act of vandalism.

"It's suspicious, at this point," he said. "There's no accidental reason I can think of, for this."

Anyone with information about the fire is encouraged to contact Castlegar RCMP at 250-365-7721.