Firefighters Put Out Old Prue School Building After Hours-Long Battle

Firefighters were at an old Prue school building after it caught on fire.

Chief Pete Burris with the Prue Volunteer Fire Department said the fire began around 8 p.m. Saturday. The blaze took five to six hours to contain.

Burris also said there is speculation that someone purposely set it on fire.

Homeowner Jon Seay said he was awakened Saturday night by the commotion outside.

He said the sparks from the blaze came to his property and landed on his garage, which he thought would also catch on fire.

 “I was just wetting it down the best I could and it started setting the forest on fire,” Seay said. “I was just keeping all my grass wet.”

The old school building located on Old School Road near Keystone Lake was abandoned in the 1960s after the new Prue Elementary School and Prue High School were built.

“Back before they built the dam, this was the school,” Burris said. “This was the town and when they put in the dam, they moved the town five miles down and shut the old school down.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.