Large fire burns at vacant Robeson County elementary school

Crews responded to a fire Wednesday at the vacant R. B. Dean Elementary School in Robeson County.

Firefighters were at the school, located at 202 Hooper St., before 5 a.m. Part of the roof had burned away, and smoke was billowing from the main hallway area at 8 a.m.

At 9 a.m., firefighters were still working to control the smoke.

R. B. Dean is one of several Robeson County schools the district closed in 2019.

The school should have been empty, but WRAL News is working to determine the cause of the fire and if there were any injuries.

A woman who taught at the school for 13 years stopped by on Wednesday to watch crews extinguish the fire. She said, for her, the building is full of memories.

"It's heartbreaking to see this many years go down this fast," she said.