Aberdeen High School will reopen today after a burst heat exchanger coil damaged multiple rooms and forced the school to close Wednesday. The malfunction occurred late Tuesday afternoon above the second-floor Guidance Center, where a copper pipe above the ceiling panels broke off and dumped a large amount of heating system fluid into the room.

The fluid damaged multiple desks and offices, and knocked out numerous ceiling panels. It then penetrated down into the first floor, according to a statement from Superintendent Alicia Henderson, where the fluid caused additional damage to the main office, and partial damage to the library.

“More than a dozen work stations were destroyed, including the attendance secretary, comptroller, school secretary, the principal’s office and both assistant principals’ offices,” Henderson wrote.

The school spent Wednesday cleaning up the aftermath, and relocating administrators’ offices to the second-floor Community Room. Principal Sherri Northington said it would probably be a week or two before returning to their permanent offices.

There were also many large carpet dryers brought in to restore the soaked floors.

Henderson told The Daily World that she does not yet know the cost of the damage, but added they had an insurance review Wednesday morning, and said insurance would likely cover most of the costs.

“We do expect to have coverage for a bulk of the damage,” said Henderson. “There’s likely to be a deductible.”

Dee Anne Shaw, executive assistant in the Superintendent’s Office, said that the high school will be open today, now that Grays Harbor County Environmental Health has completed its inspection and returned positive air quality results.

(Courtesy Dee Anne Shaw) Staff begin cleaning up the first-floor main office of Aberdeen High School on Wednesday. A large amount of heating system fluid seeped through the ceiling and damaged many offices, including the principal’s.