Turtle habitat catches fire at Fairview School

A classroom turtle survived an early morning fire at Fairview Elementary School at 979 E. 97th North in Idaho Falls.

Firefighters were dispatched to a fire alarm at the school at 3:20 a.m. They found a visual and audible fire alarm, but no obvious sign of smoke or flames.

Smoke was reported throughout the building and the fire alarm was upgraded to bring in an additional fire engine, ladder truck, water tender, and two ambulances.

Firefighters used a thermal imaging camera to locate a small fire in a classroom. The fire was burning a rubber container being used as a turtle habitat.

Crews extinguished the fire and ventilated the building. They also saved the turtle.

School maintenance personnel were cleaning the building and removing smoke odors Wednesday morning.