Columbia’s Hammond School catches fire Wednesday night

The Columbia Fire Department battled a two-alarm fire Wednesday night at Hammond School, a longtime private school in Columbia.

The fire in Hammond’s lower school building started a little after 8 p.m., officials said. It damaged a couple of classrooms, but the fire department was able to prevent it from spreading to an adjacent building that serves as the cafeteria.

Officials said classes in Hammond’s lower school, grades pre-K through 4th grade were canceled for Thursday.

As noted by department officials on social media, firefighters from CFD’s third shift responded to the school just before 8:15 p.m. Wednesday. Officials said 13 department units responded to the blaze.

”One building was on fire and the flames were quickly spreading to a second building on the property,” the department noted on Twitter. “This prompted units on scene to call for a second alarm.”

As of 9:17 p.m. the fire was contained. There were no injuries reported.

Longtime Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins was on the scene of the fire as of 9:51 p.m. Wednesday. Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann also was on the scene of the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, per city fire officials.

Hammond School is located at 854 Galway Lane in Columbia.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 9:52 PM.