Overview
- The fire started during a fifth‑grade music class on Friday, June 19, and scorched about 200 square meters of the school’s fourth floor before firefighters brought it largely under control hours later.
- Teachers and students evacuated the building with some people rescued from windows and a narrow exterior ledge, and 11 people were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation or evacuation injuries but none with life‑threatening conditions.
- Police and the Tokyo Fire Department conducted a formal on‑site inspection (実況見分) and reported finding an electric heater, several circulators and burned clothing in the music preparation room, shifting the probe toward an accidental ignition and away from suspected arson.
- Investigators noted the preparation room had no sprinkler, a nearby stairway was made unusable by smoke and a fire shutter closed, and the emergency response exposed gaps in planned evacuation routes that had not anticipated a fire in that area.
- Kita Ward and school officials have announced a temporary closure and plans for student support starting June 22, and the ward said it will review use of portable heaters, electrical safety and evacuation procedures as forensic work continues to establish the exact ignition sequence.