During the fire at Westwood Elementary School on Wednesday, evacuation orders were put into place in the afternoon due to the heavy smoke.

It started as a voluntary evacuation order and just after 3 pm, the City of Thompson notified the public that residents in streets surrounding the fire scene were on a mandatory evacuation order and should head to the TRCC.

RCMP was dispatched to go door-to-door to notify those residents of the order.

As of yesterday, the school was still considered an active fire scene.

With the fire destroying Westwood Elementary School, there are many questions about what will happen next.

Deputy Mayor Kathy Valentino was on City Beat yesterday and indicated that representatives from the City of Thompson and the School District of Mystery Lake had been in contact.

Valentino asked that the public be patient and stated that we will hear from the School District officials in due time,  as they are just beginning the process for how to move forward.

General updates regarding the fire are posted on the district’s facebook page.