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East Bridgewater recalls school-issued Chromebooks over fire concerns

EAST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — East Bridgewater Public Schools is asking students in grades 7-12 to return their school-issued Chromebooks after smoke started pouring from one of the devices on Monday.

"[Monday] we had an incident of a Chromebook in our Junior Senior High School emitting smoke," a sent letter to parents, guardians and students said.

East Bridgewater Fire Lt. Matthew Leighton confirmed to Boston 25 News that firefighters responded to the school on Monday. He said the smoking Chromebook was already outside when firefighters arrived and no one was hurt.

More than 1,050 Chromebooks were issued to all teachers and students in grades 7-12 this year, according to East Bridgewater Superintendent of Schools Liz Legault.

"This is a setback for grades 7-12. As I often say, schools are event driven, however our teachers are resourceful and so are our students and we will get through this as a school community," Legault told Boston 25 News.

The Chromebooks will be collected from students Tuesday morning.

"We will work with the company to replace [the Chromebooks] as expeditiously as possible," said Legault.

Boston 25 News has reached out to Google for comment.

Update: Tuesday morning, the East Bridgewater Superintendent told Boston 25 News the number of Chromebooks had increased to 1,050.