On January 7, 1942, a sub-zero day, the coal-fired boilers were working hard to keep the class rooms at Center Township School comfortable. Shortly after noon, flames were discovered over the furnace room. An overheated chimney had ignited the interior wood frame. Alarms were sounded and the students were evacuated in fifty-one seconds, many leaving their winter coats and boots behind.
While firemen worked to bring the blaze under control, school buses took the freezing children home. The fire was soon extinguished and several firemen remained at the school all afternoon watching for more signs of trouble.Shortly after 6 PM, the fire broke out again and quickly engulfed the domestic science room.
Outside the reach of the town water supply, the school's well was no match for the blaze, which soon spread to the gymnasium. Having resorted to bucket brigades, the firemen were forced to abandon their efforts to save the school. Center Township School, built in 1910, was a total loss.
Attached is the front of the December, 1941 school newsletter, published the month before the destruction of the school.
Info from A PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF STARKE COUNTY INDIANA