Electrical malfunction today shuts down Choffin

YOUNGSTOWN — A malfunction in a basement electrical equipment room around 9:15 a.m. today caused Choffin Career and Technical Center to shut down.

Principal Joseph Meranto said the power in the building went out and an alarm sounded, resulting in the rapid evacuation of about 1,000 people in the South Wood Street school. The fire department responded, and it wasn’t until after the building was empty that officials traced the source of the problem to the basement electrical room, he said. There was smoke in that room and some in the adjoining hallway, Meranto said.

Students were sent back to their home schools, and those enrolled in the Rayen Early College Middle School were taken to the district’s central office building at 20 W. Wood St.

An Ohio Edison crew was assisting the district in checking on the cause of the problem, and a decision will be made later today on whether the school will reopen Thursday, Meranto said.