Straub Middle School students were dismissed about two hours early Thursday after a small fire set in a school bathroom forced the evacuation of the school. The Salem Fire Department received report of a fire alarm at Straub just before 1 p.m., during the final minutes of the school’s second lunch period. The school was evacuated, according to a message Principal Denny McCarthy sent Straub families around 2 p.m. All students and staff were safe. The West Salem school has about 560 students. Students were held in the school gym following the evacuation with fire department approval, McCarthy said. His message asked parents and guardians to pick up their students as soon as possible. Buses from Straub will run on a normal schedule Thursday, and after school activities were canceled. The Salem Fire Department is investigating the fire. Salem-Keizer School District spokesman Aaron Harada said he didn’t immediately have additional information about the fire. Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Straub Middle School evacuated after fire set in bathroom appeared first on Salem Reporter.