Hadley Closed Until Air Clears

Hadley School will be closed Thursday at which point the superintendent will decide whether to close the school on Friday, too.

The K-4 school was closed Wednesday for safety reasons.

Hadley stands next to 132 Humphrey Street, a three-story building largely consumed by fire on Wednesday.

The fire continued to smolder Wednesday and flared up  around 1 p.m., as crews were demolishing the charred and weakened remains of the estimated 100-year-old building.

The superintendent’s decision to call off school Thursday was easy to make after a five minute walk in the building Wednesday morning.

The air quality was noticeably poor, she said.

She will have the air at the school tested.

“I want to do an air quality test before I let them back in the school,” Celli said.

The superintendent said the school must make up the two days called off this week, and would have to make up any additional days missed.

She is consulting with the school principal and building leaders on a plan for making up the days but has yet to decide when that will happen.

School Committee Chairwoman Jacqueline Kinney said she noticed smoke was still coming out of the building Wednesday about 3 p.m. when she was driving home from work.

“I don’t think it is a safe situation, yet,” she said.

The chairwoman and superintendent have been talking about the situation and clearly agree that the safety of students and staff is foremost.

Superintendent Celli said she feels very fortunate that Hadley was not damaged in the huge blaze.

When firefighters fell back to a defensive position early Wednesday they successfully  protected properties on three sides of the building.