EXETER \u2014 A fire at Wyoming Area Catholic School on Tuesday morning prompted evacuation of students, staff and faculty.<\/p>\n
Eric Deabill, a Diocese of Scranton spokesperson present at the scene, said the school had accounted for all 174 students who attend Wyoming Area Catholic and that they were all safe. He said there were also no reported injuries to staff or faculty.<\/p>\n
There appeared to be damage to the school\u2019s cupola. Wyoming Area Catholic and the diocese stated late Tuesday afternoon that there had been \u201csignificant damage to at least two classrooms\u201d and smoke and water damage in other sections of the school. Diocese and school officials could not confirm the cause of the fire Tuesday and indicated the State Police fire marshal was investigating the matter.<\/p>\n
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Students and staff have been evacuated after a fire broke out around 10 a.m. Tuesday morning at Wyoming Area Catholic School at 1690 Wyoming Ave., Exeter, according to the Wyoming Area Regional Police Department. (Christopher Doyle \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Amy Rosencrance, the safety and security coordinator for Wyoming Area Catholic, discussed the fire at a news conference outside the school. She said she was first notified of an issue when a teacher reported that lights were flickering. Rosencrance then inspected the concern at which point, she said, she noticed smoke in a classroom, prompting an evacuation of the school and a triggering of the fire alarm. She estimated that the ordeal began around 10:10 a.m.<\/p>\n
While checking to ensure that all students had been evacuated, Rosencrance said she saw parts of two classrooms had caught fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, we\u2019re so thankful,\u201d Rosencrance said. \u201cWe\u2019re very thankful to God and everyone else that we were able to get everyone out of the building.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Students and staff have been evacuated after a fire broke out around 10 a.m. Tuesday morning at Wyoming Area Catholic School at 1690 Wyoming Ave., Exeter, according to the Wyoming Area Regional Police Department. (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER<\/p>\n
Rosencrance specifically thanked all school personnel and the children for executing the district\u2019s fire evacuation plan. Ironically, Rosencrance said a fire drill had been scheduled for Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt turned out to be a real, live one, instead of just a drill,\u201d Rosencrance said. \u201cBut, I really would like to thank the faculty, the staff, and the students for their cooperation today, because that really helped us get everyone out.\u201d<\/p>\n
After their evacuation, students were taken to Wyoming Area Secondary Center. Parents and guardians were instructed to travel there to reunite with their children.<\/p>\n
![\"Students](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_5186.jpeg\")
Students and staff have been evacuated after a fire broke out around 10 a.m. Tuesday morning at Wyoming Area Catholic School at 1690 Wyoming Ave., Exeter, according to the Wyoming Area Regional Police Department. (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER<\/p>\n
Wyoming Area Superintendent Jon Pollard thanked his district\u2019s school police, buildings-and-grounds officials, and transportation crews for responding to the fire. He also credited Wyoming Area Catholic families, who he said demonstrated \u201cpatience and understanding\u2026during a very stressful time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are deeply relieved that all students and staff are safe, incredibly proud of our staff for jumping into action without hesitation, and grateful to our local first responders for their quick response,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cHelping our neighbors during a crisis is simply what this community does best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Ley, whose son Ezra is a second-grade student at Wyoming Area Catholic, described his experience Tuesday morning. He said he was driving home from teaching a yoga class when he received an alert via the Remind platform that there had been a fire in the school. The alert, which Ley said was sent at 10:17 a.m., indicated that all students had been evacuated from the school and asked parents and guardians to await further instructions.<\/p>\n
Ley was informed shortly thereafter that the students had been taken to Wyoming Area High School and he reunited with Ezra there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something you never think is going to happen,\u201d Ley said. \u201cAll the time when I was in school, you do fire drills\u2026it\u2019s a good thing they do them, because this actually happens. You never thought it would happen to us, but here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Students](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_5193.jpeg\")
Students and staff have been evacuated after a fire broke out around 10 a.m. Tuesday morning at Wyoming Area Catholic School at 1690 Wyoming Ave., Exeter, according to the Wyoming Area Regional Police Department. (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER<\/p>\n
Ezra Ley, speaking at the scene after the fire, said he noticed signs of a disturbance around his class\u2019s snack time. He said the lights began flickering and his class was told to line up when he noticed smoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, when we were up, there was smoke all around everything,\u201d\u00a0 Ezra Ley said.<\/p>\n
A host of local fire and ambulance companies, as well as other first responders, were on the scene Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI absolutely thank each and everyone of them for their prompt response,\u201d Rosencrance said. \u201cTheir response and how quickly they got here, I\u2019m so thankful for that. Because that really helped contain (the fire) and save this building.<\/p>\n
Ezra Ley, the Wyoming Area Catholic second grader, said he felt \u201cgood\u201d after the experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kids were all safe and accounted for,\u201d Michael Ley, Ezra\u2019s father, said. \u201cThey did a really good job of planning and getting them out in a timely manner and making sure everybody was safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly what comes next for Wyoming Area Catholic is uncertain, though the district has begun to lay out its plans.<\/p>\n
Wyoming Area Catholic parents and guardians received a letter late Tuesday afternoon informing them it was expected that there would be no regular school until after Labor Day, with Sept. 8 being the next anticipated day of class.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 8, students are expected to resume class at St. Maria Goretti Parish, which has volunteered its religious-education classrooms for use by the school. The letter, which was signed by Diocese of Scranton Superintendent Kristen Donohue and Wyoming Area Catholic Principal Eileen Rishcoff, stated that the school was \u201cincredibly grateful to the parish\u201d and that the parish was \u201coffering to help as long as necessary while (the) school is being restored.\u201d It also stated that the diocese and school have begun consulting with professionals to evaluate the damage to the school and to determine what restoration work will be necessary before Wyoming Area Catholic can reopen.<\/p>\n
Work to help students heal from the experience is underway as well.<\/p>\n
The Wyoming Area Catholic community is gathering Wednesday at 11 a.m. at St. Maria Goretti Parish in Laflin to celebrate Mass, which the letter described as an act of \u201ccoming together in prayer\u201d and an \u201cimportant first step in as (they) begin to process what happened and look ahead.\u201d Students can retrieve backpacks and other items they may have left behind for a period of time between the end of Mass and 1 p.m. Counselors will also be on site at St. Maria Goretti to offer students guidance for an half an hour before Mass begins.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize that an experience like this can be frightening, particularly for our youngest students,\u201d stated the letter to parents and guardians. \u201cWe encourage families to talk with their children, listen to their concerns, and reassure them that they are safe and surrounded by people who love and care for them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXETER \u2014 A fire at Wyoming Area Catholic School on Tuesday morning prompted evacuation of students, staff and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[202,1027,182,803,139,28,178,180,179,802],"class_list":["post-278050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-exeter","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-cvc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}