Fire breaks out at Lillie C. Evans Elementary School in NW Miami
MIAMI – Miami-Dade police and fire rescue are at the scene of a blaze at Lillie C. Evans Elementary School on Sunday in the 1800 block of NW 75th Street in Miami.
According to fire rescue reports, the fire is in the cafeteria.
This is an active incident. Check back here for updates as events unfold.
A short history of the school's namesake
The school was dedicated in March 1959 as a permanent memorial to Mrs. Lille Carmichael, an educational leader in Miami-Dade County who died the year before.
Evans was born in Mississippi in 1876, graduated from Roger Williams University and married Rev. J.R. Evans soon after.
The family moved to Miami in 1918 and Evans was appointed principal of Washington Graded School in 1920.
There she kept pace with new trends in public education.
According to her biography, hers was the first school in South Florida to provide an accredited, 12-grade education for Black children.
She went on to serve as principal of Booker T. Washington and Dunbar elementary schools before retiring in 1938.
