Purvis High field house destroyed by fire, other teams donate football equipment for opening game

Firefighters use a ladder truck to extinguish hot spots after a fire destroyed the Purvis High School field house Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014, in Purvis, Miss. (AP Photo/The Hattiesburg American, Kelly Price)
Firefighters use a ladder truck to extinguish hot spots after a fire destroyed the Purvis High School field house Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014, in Purvis, Miss. (AP Photo/The Hattiesburg American, Kelly Price)
Firefighters examine the damage caused by a fire that destroyed the Purvis High School field house Saturday, Aug, 16, 2014, in Purvis, Miss. (AP Photo/The Hattiesburg American, Kelly Price)

PURVIS, Mississippi (AP) — A fire has destroyed Purvis High School’s field house.

Firefighters use a ladder truck to extinguish hot spots after a fire destroyed the Purvis High School field house Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014, in Purvis, Miss. (AP Photo/The Hattiesburg American, Kelly Price)
Firefighters use a ladder truck to extinguish hot spots after a fire destroyed the Purvis High School field house Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014, in Purvis, Miss. (AP Photo/The Hattiesburg American, Kelly Price)

Football coach Perry Wheat tells The Clarion-Ledger (http://on.thec-l.com/1m8QxiC ) the building was a “complete loss,” and with that, so was all the football team’s equipment in Saturday’s fire.

The Tornadoes open their season Friday at home against North Forrest.

Wheat says the team will regroup.

Wheat said he did not know the cause of the fire. He received a call of smoke coming from the area, and when he arrived at the scene around 1 p.m., the building was engulfed in flames.

The building housed all the team’s equipment, as well as the dressing and weight rooms.

In the meantime, he said other schools, such as Oak Grove, Sumrall and Southern Miss have donated equipment to the Tornadoes.