A fire that tore through Lulu M. Ross Elementary School in Milford, Delaware, early on Sunday, 25 October 2026, has cancelled classes for the whole week, leaving pupils, staff and families facing days of disruption while investigators work out how the blaze began.
The Milford School District said students at Lulu Ross Elementary will have no classes from Monday, 26 October, through Friday, 30 October. There will be no in-person instruction and no remote instruction for those pupils during that period, the district said, as the building remains closed for clean-up and investigation.
The fire was first reported at around 4 a.m. on Sunday, when an automatic fire alarm sent emergency crews to the school. On arrival, firefighters found fire coming through the roof of the building. It took about three hours to bring the three-alarm blaze under control, and no injuries were reported.
The building was empty when the fire broke out, and no students or school employees were inside during the incident. That fact, district officials said, spared the community a far worse outcome, even as the damage to the school itself turned out to be extensive.
Key Takeaways
- Lulu M. Ross Elementary School in Milford, Delaware, will have no classes from 26 to 30 October 2026 after a fire tore through the building early on Sunday.
- The fire was reported at around 4 a.m., took about three hours to bring under control, and caused no reported injuries because the building was empty.
- Neighbouring Mispillion Elementary School, which shares the campus, closed on Monday, 26 October, after the fire damaged its phone and internet systems.
Extensive Damage Across Classrooms and Offices
District officials said the fire caused extensive structural damage to classrooms, offices and the school library. Emergency officials said firefighters found heavy fire concentrated in the north end of the Kent hallway, and the flames spread through the Kent wing into the front lobby and administrative offices.
Damage was reported across both the Kent and New Castle hallways, with multiple classrooms affected. The Delaware State Fire Marshal’s office said investigators determined that the fire originated in the Kent wing of the school, although the cause remains under investigation.
Superintendent Travis Moorman asked people to avoid the school while clean-up and the investigation continue. The district said its staff will receive updates and specifics in the coming week, and that it is working with the state to gather resources for staff and families dealing with the trauma of the fire and the scale of the loss.
The building was empty when the fire broke out, and no injuries were reported.
Mispillion Elementary Also Forced to Close
The fire’s impact did not stop at Lulu Ross Elementary. Mispillion Elementary School, which sits on the same shared campus, also closed on Monday, 26 October, after the blaze damaged fibre-optic connectivity to the school, taking out its internet and phone systems.
The district said the loss of phone and internet service created a safety concern for students and the community, leaving Mispillion without working communications. There was no remote or in-person learning for Mispillion students on Monday, while staff awaited administrative instructions.
State service crews were expected to work through Sunday night and Monday to repair the fibre-optic lines and restore utilities to the campus, district officials said, with hopes that service could be restored as soon as possible. All other schools in the Milford School District were operating on their regular schedules this week.
The disruption comes at a sensitive time for families in the area, as early voting for the 2026 general election continues. The Delaware Department of Elections said the polling place for Sussex County Election District 36-01 voters has been moved from Lulu Ross Elementary School to Mispillion Elementary School, at 311 Lovers Lane, Milford, for the general election on 3 November 2026, and that letters have been mailed to registered voters in the district.
- Fire reported at around 4 a.m. on Sunday, 25 October, after an automatic alarm; crews found fire through the roof.
- About three hours to bring the three-alarm fire under control; no injuries reported.
- Lulu Ross Elementary closed 26 to 30 October, with no in-person or remote instruction.
- Mispillion Elementary closed on 26 October after fibre-optic damage cut phone and internet service.
- Fire Marshal investigators traced the fire’s origin to the Kent wing; the cause is still under investigation.
- Polling place for Election District 36-01 moved to Mispillion Elementary for the 3 November general election.
Community Rallies Around the School
The fire has struck a nerve across Delaware. State officials, including the governor and members of the state’s congressional delegation, expressed support for the Milford community and thanked firefighters and first responders for containing the blaze, while the district thanked the wider Delaware community for offers of support.
In Milford itself, residents began collecting school supplies for affected pupils, with pencils, crayons, notebooks, folders and other classroom essentials among the items being gathered. The district encouraged current and former students experiencing emotional stress from the fire to reach out to school counsellors, mental health professionals and school administrators for support.
The superintendent said the district’s crisis team would meet regularly throughout the week and provide updates as decisions develop. He also asked the community to give school staff time to respond to the situation and plan for the days ahead.
As with other fires in public buildings that force sudden closures, the immediate challenge is not only repairing the damage but keeping daily life running while the building is out of use. For families, that means rearranging childcare, work and study plans at short notice, and watching for district updates on when, and where, classes might resume.
What to Watch Next
The next updates to watch are the district’s decisions on what happens after 30 October, when the current closure period ends. Officials have not yet said when Lulu Ross pupils will return to a classroom, or whether temporary arrangements will be needed while repairs continue, and damage assessments are still under way.
Families should also watch for news on Mispillion Elementary, where the return to normal depends on fibre-optic repairs restoring phone and internet service. Until communications are fully restored, the district has treated the campus as unsafe for normal school operations.
Investigators have not yet released a final determination of what caused the fire, and the district has asked people to stay away from the school while that work continues. For households preparing for further disruption, the same basics apply as in any emergency supplies guidance: bottled water, non-perishable food, a torch, a radio and cash, and a plan for what to do if services are interrupted. Until the investigation concludes and repair plans are announced, the Milford school community faces a week of waiting, clean-up and planning for what comes next.