photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Students were evacuated from Lawrence High School after a small fire occurred in the girls' locker room.

Two Lawrence High School students have been arrested following a fire in the girls’ locker room at the school Monday morning, according to a message Tuesday from the Lawrence school district to the LHS community.

The fire originated at a paper towel dispenser that extended to a combustible trash receptacle below, the message said, although it provided scant information, including how the fire was started or how much damage was done. The message did indicate that the locker room remained closed.

“While we cannot share details about individual students’ involvement, we want our community to know that both law enforcement and the district take these matters very seriously, and in addition to appropriate criminal processes, we will be implementing disciplinary consequences in line with our policies,” the message, signed by Superintendent Jeanice Swift and LHS Principal Quentin Rials, said.

As the Journal-World reported, no one was injured in the fire, but the school was evacuated.

McKenzi Ezell, chief of staff for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, said a quick investigation found moderate smoke from a small fire that had been extinguished by a single sprinkler head in the locker room. Additional units were requested to assist with ventilating the building.

In its message Tuesday, the district highlighted “opportunities for improvement,” including “more timely communication to families that the building was evacuated, explanation for the cause for disruption to the school day, and updates as additional information is verified and available.” The district also said it would use ParentSquare, the communications distribution platform, to issue alerts in such circumstances instead of posts, “instantly distributing to recipients, regardless of personalized notification settings.”