THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 13, 1996 TAG: 9605130031
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
A fire at Windsor Oaks Elementary School destroyed two portable classrooms early Sunday, but officials credited swift work by firefighters with halting the flames before they spread into the main building.
``It was very, very close,'' said Joe Lowenthal, the school district's public relations coordinator. ``The windows were melted. It was very close to breaking through.''
The two portable classrooms were next to the school ``and it was kind of scary,'' Lowenthal said. `We were very fortunate. The Fire Department did a heck of a job.''
Firefighters used streams of water on the side of the main building and on a third portable classroom nearby to keep flames from spreading.
``There are some cracked windows and it charred the side of the main building,'' said Battalion Chief Chase Sergeant, a Fire Department spokesman.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, but the origin is considered suspicious. There was no immediate damage estimate.
One of the destroyed trailers housed special education classes. The other was used for music classes and included a piano. Classes that were to have beenheld in those trailers will be rescheduled in the main building.
Lowenthal said that if replacement trailers are available, it would be about two weeks before they can be put in place.
Maintenance crews spent Sunday repairing broken windows and cleaning up limited smoke damage in the main building. All should be ready for classes today, Lowenthal said.
The fire, in the 3800 block of Van Buren Drive in the Plaza section, was reported at 5:50 a.m. by a citizen who spotted the flames and went to a nearby fire station.
Both classrooms were engulfed in flames when the first firefighters reached the scene a few minutes later. In short order, a second alarm was called and about 30 firefighters from six engine companies and two ladder trucks were eventually called to the scene.
There were no injuries and the fire was brought under control relatively swiftly, Sergeant said.
One trailer had asbestos in it, which prompted firefighters to use decontamination procedures before leaving the scene.
Investigators were sifting through the rubble Sunday afternoon in search of a cause. If the fire is the work of an arsonist, it would be the second time in less than a year that a city school has been intentionally set ablaze.
On Sept. 1, the main building at Princess Anne High School was wrecked by fire. The blaze swept 29 classrooms, the library and the cafeteria before firefighters could bring it under control. Water and smoke damage extended into other parts of the school, including the auditorium, which was badly damaged even though no flames reached it.
Repairs are still under way and the facility should be open for classes in January 1997. In the meantime, about 2,500 of the school's 2,900 students have been housed in Celebration Station, a defunct shopping mall on Virginia Beach Boulevard, two miles east of the main campus.
The others are housed in portable classrooms and undamaged classrooms at the high school.
Investigators have yet to charge anybody with setting that fire. ILLUSTRATION: CHARLIE MEADS
The Virginian-Pilot
School officials credited Virginia Beach firefighters with saving
the main building at Windsor Oaks Elementary School.
VP Map
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL FIRE by CNB