Sebring Daycare Fire Forces Closure

SEBRING - Parents of about 100 children who used the My School Preschool and Child Development Center will have to seek alternative daycare for their children after a fire Tuesday evening destroyed the inside of the building.

Firefighers received a call at 7:08 p.m. at 1002 Persimmon Ave. in Sebring.

Fifteen firefighters used three trucks to fight back flames at the single-story 6,000-square foot structure, said Mike Roberts, deputy chief of Sebring Fire and Rescue.

Owner Jennifer Lipowski, whose daycare had celebrated its 10th anniversary in April, said plans to temporarily locate to Living Waters Church of God are not feasible.

The church property was not zoned for daycares and any zoning request would take about eight weeks, she said.

She was hoping that someone from the community would offer about 5,000 to 6,000 square feet of space with enough bathrooms. She was also banking on the school district to provide some portables that could be set up on donated land, she added.

"We have no place to go to right now," she added.

Lipowski was at her mother's house when she got the call about the fire, she said.
"The inside is not salvageable," she added. "It has to be gutted or redone."

Lipowski was renting the building.

After the fire, the daycare's 20 staff members called the parents individually and informed them to find alternative arrangements.

The daycare's workers are without jobs and have been told to file for unemployment, Lipowski added.
A fire report supplied by Roberts on Wednesday listed the estimated the damage at $75,000 to the building and $150,00 to the contents.

Roberts said staff at the state fire marshall's office with preliminary information would likely rule the blaze accidental and electrical in nature.

To help Lipowski, call 385-1392.