Norwich – Fire and water damage at the Kelly Middle School will total “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” school board members learned today.

School Business Administrator Athena Nagel told the board’s budget committee today that insurance investigators gave her the rough estimate, but couldn’t say whether the cost would be closer to $100,000 or $1 million.

An older computer monitor in a new second-floor science classroom smoldered and burned overnight Monday, setting off two sprinkler heads that sprayed several thousand gallons of water onto the fire. While the fire was extinguished quickly, the water cascaded downstairs, through hallways and through the ceiling to flood classrooms below.

Nagel said the cleanup continued today, and by the end of the week, all the wet materials will be removed and placed in a storage trailer. Next week, the school system will hire Mystic Air Quality Consultants, Inc. to do air and moisture tests before the two classroom floors are reopened. About 12 classrooms are closed because of the water damage.

Nagel also ordered the school’s technology department to replace all older computer monitors of the same type as the one that burned. She estimated the cost to purchase flat-screen monitors at $9,000 and said the board has money in the capital improvements budget for the purchases.