Fire at abandoned school under control; investigation begins Tuesday

Fire crews responded to a fire at an abandoned school Monday night in Lee County.

According to the Sanford Fire Department, the fire was at the Old Jonesboro Elementary School on Cox Maddox Road.

Fire Chief Matt Arnold said the initial call came in around 7:04 p.m.

When firefighters arrived, heavy smoke and flames were visible.

Arnold said the fire was placed under control at 8:40 p.m., but the scene was still very active throughout Monday night. Fire crews remained at the scene for several hours.

The fire department said there were no injures.

Arnold said the school district used the building to store old desks and other furniture.

The investigation began Tuesday morning because of the wet ground conditions. Arnold said it would be difficult to bring in equipment when the ground is wet. 

"With the ground as wet as it is... [it] is a little bit of a challenge for us," Arnold said Monday night. 

He said they'll have to move the collapsed roof in order to determine what caused the fire.

"We're gonna have to tear the building apart a little bit," he said. "The roof was a metal roof, [and] it collapsed in the building. So in order to get into the building and kind of sort through some things and see where it started, we've got to get that roof out of the way."