CARTERVILLE (WSIL) -- Reconstruction is nearly complete on John A Logan College's campus after an electrical fire.
On August 12th, the first day of classes for the fall semester at John A. Logan College, an electrical fire began in the humanities wing of building C.
"At about noon on that day, there was an arc fire in a mechanical room, which caused smoke and soot damage through about 100,000 square feet of our campus," said Steve O'Keefe, the Director of College Relations.
Two college employees and two firefighters were taken to the hospital after the fire with non-life threatening injuries and forced the John A. Logan campus to shut down for a few days.
Luckily, administrators said there wasn't any fire damage to rooms outside of the mechanical room.
"Everything else was just a strong smell of odor that comes with a fire. Burnt plastic, wire, those type of things. And then some soot damage. There was a film on a lot of the standing areas and offices," said O'Keefe.
Within 24 hours of the fire, a construction crew came in and began cleaning and replacing carpets, ceiling tiles, and repainting the walls.
Now, the humanities building is almost ready to welcome students back for their in-person classes, after being entirely remote for the fall semester.
"The opportunity they have now to get back in that class room, I know they are excited. And I know our students are excited that they have that opportunity to get back in there. So we're really happy that it has gone at this pace," said O'Keefe.
Administrators said COVID-19 and the fire tried to throw faculty and students alike off track, but both groups handled the transition well.
However, they believe it is time to get things as back to normal as possible.
"It's been a full on team effort. And we're really excited and glad to be moving forward," said O'Keefe.
Despite the speedy construction, the student services section of building C will remain under construction, but is scheduled to be completed by late spring.
Classes at John A. Logan begin Monday, January 11th.
