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POSTED: Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Future of Whatcom Middle School in doubt after fire ravages building

BELLINGHAM - A fire heavily damaged Whatcom Middle School early Thursday, Nov. 5, canceling classes into next week and leaving the historic school's future in doubt.

A neighbor of the school at 810 Halleck St. called 911 shortly after 1 a.m. to report seeing fire. By the time firefighters arrived about 1:15 a.m., the flames, fueled by increasing winds from an incoming storm, were racing across the roof.

Within 15 minutes, the fire had worked its way across two-thirds of the roof, Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Boyd said.

More than 100 firefighters from across Whatcom County battled the blaze, which raged for hours.

"The power went out and then I saw smoke and I thought, 'I hope it's not Whatcom,'" said nearby resident Rochelle Linderman early Thursday morning. "This is devastating."

A huge column of smoke could be seen for blocks, even in the darkness, and the burning smell filled the Fountain, Columbia and downtown districts.

At the height of the fire, flames engulfed the roof and could be seen through the second-floor windows, burning in the classrooms. The school, the oldest in the Bellingham School District, has two floors plus a daylight basement.

Sections of the roof collapsed into the second floor. Firefighters tried desperately to save the gym, which has new maple floors, and the auditorium. But the results of their efforts were unclear Thursday, because the school was unsafe to enter.

Classes at the school have been canceled until at least Thursday, Nov. 12, as district officials try to figure out where to move the 580 students and 55 staff members. It was not yet known if the school can be repaired.

Boyd called the fire "a community disaster."

The 106-year-old school, the oldest such building in the Bellingham School District and one of the oldest school buildings in the state, had been undergoing seismic upgrades. Workers were seen welding on the roof Wednesday night, Bellingham Police Lt. Rick Sucee said.

Though the workers were in the area where the fire appeared to have started, Boyd said it was too early to determine what caused the fire. The building will have to be stabilized before investigators can even enter to begin piecing together what happened.

Long before dawn, nearby residents watched as their neighborhood landmark burned. Many had been woken by the sirens and the lights, others by what sounded like explosions.

Water from firefighters trying to extinguish the flames poured out the school's front doors and down the steps like a waterfall, flooding D Street. Power was out in the surrounding neighborhood.

The fire blew out many of the school's second-floor windows. Police fired bean bags into other windows to break them and provide ventilation.

Winds blew embers around, so authorities spent hours patrolling to ensure burning debris did not set nearby homes on fire.

The Mt. Baker Chapter of the American Red Cross was at the scene helping feed the fire crews, who were rotating shifts.

By the time classes would have started for the day, the fire had done much of its damage. Despite the district calling students' homes to inform them school was canceled, some arrived shocked to find the building on fire.

Fire crews began to depart by the afternoon, and the command center was shut down about 2:40 p.m. Thursday. Only one engine crew was left on scene to handle any hot spots.

It was the second major fire at a Bellingham middle school in recent years. Kulshan Middle School was gutted by fire in July 1993, just before the new school was set to open. An investigation revealed a faulty electrical connection between a soda machine and an extension cord sparked the fire, which destroyed more than half of the $8.6 million school.

And on New Year's Eve 1935, the then Fairhaven High School, where Fairhaven Middle School now stands, burned down.