By Marjorie Blaess and Lee White
Staff Writers
January 02, 2009 10:01 am
—
What may be the most costly fire in Clinton history destroyed Clinton senior high school early today. Unofficial estimates of the loss of the building (exclusive of contents) range from two to five million dollars. Fire Chief Harold Nelson says there is a definite indication that an arsonist started the fire.
Investigation made at mid-morning revealed the main blaze originated at the rear of the auditorium stage and worked upward.
A secondary fire, which did not develop to any extent, revealed that an arsonist had been active.
Chief Nelson said a second floor classroom bore evidence that an attempt had been made to start a blaze but it died without spreading.
It was determined that some form of inflammable liquid had been poured on the floor and then ignited. As the floor is concrete, only the liquid, possibly gasoline, burned. Desks in the room were charred by the heat and so was the woodwork but the fire did not extend to the corridor. Chief Nelson also said there was some evidence the classroom door had been forced to gain entry.
“There’s no doubt in my mind,” said Nelson, “this fire was touched off.”
Dense black smoke was still pouring from the southeast corner of the building at mid-morning. Firemen said the fire is expected to burn itself out but will probably be smoldering for many hours.
The first alarm was turned in to police and fire departments at 3:10 a.m. today - just 30 minutes after police had checked the outside of the building.
Police Chief H. J. Fries said it had been reported at 2:28 a.m. by a milk delivery man that a youth, about 16, was seen prowling around the school but fled when the man approached. Officers checked the area and the doors and windows of the high school and reported “the school appeared secure,” according to the chief. He said his department is investigating the report further to determine if the unidentified youth had “legitimate business in the school area.”
Deputy State Fire Marshal Robert Smith of Vinton, arrived in Clinton at mid-morning to take charge of the investigation into the high school fire. Fire Chief Harold Nelson and the police chief summoned the state fire marshal after a conference this morning.
The first officers on the scene said the fire apparently started at the back center of the big building and spread rapidly to the north, fanned by a south west wind.
All Clinton’s fire fighting equipment was dispatched and within 30 minutes all off-duty firemen and extra police were called in. Streets were barricaded as hose lines were sprawled all through the neighborhood.
Firemen said they could see flames leaping high in the air as they sped out 5th Ave. to the high school. The fire raced through the upper part of the third floor and as one fireman said “when it reached the two-story auditorium the flames swooshed in every direction.”
At 5:05 a.m. the area was rocked by an explosion when flames reached the chemistry department. Dense black smoke with dark red flames against the sky looked as if an atomic bomb had been touched off. Smaller explosions occurred as various chemicals blew up in the intense heat.
Persons who braved the nine-below-zero weather to watch the devastation saw flames dance along the roof line, slither down the window casings then heard the crash of breaking glass as the fire crept downward to the second floor.
As the winds shifted, big chunks of burning debris were carried over the area causing the onlookers to move out of range.
At 5:55 a.m. burning timbers dropped on a fireman stationed below the fire. Ralph Thomson, 43, of 95 28th Ave. N. was taken to Mercy hospital in the city ambulance. He reportedly suffered neck and back injuries. Thomson was admitted for observation and treatment and is reported in good condition.
Police were on standby at Central station to handle fire and ambulance calls.
At 6:18 a.m. four firemen and the quad rig were pulled off the high school fire when it was reported that smoke was coming from Jefferson school at 723 2nd Ave. S., a part of the Washington junior high school. On arrival, they found the building full of smoke but there was no fire- only an overheated motor. The building was cleared of smoke in time for school to open.
At one time, three or four leaks sprang up in rapid succession along one line of hose in front of the high school emitting geysers of water that froze in the sub-zero weather. Firemen quickly corrected the trouble and the line was soon back in operation.
Fire Creates Big Problems
by Sam Elrod
Staff Writer
Clinton high school and its contents were covered by insurance to the greatest extent possible.
The policy, written by a number of companies represented in the Clinton Association of Independent Insurance Agents, provides for replacement cost of the building and contents less depreciation on the original cost of them.
This means that if replacement of the building costs $2 million, insurance will provide the difference between the original cost of the structure, which was $642,806 in 1921, plus the portion of the original cost not depreciated over the 47-year period.
Insurance carried by the school district will not cover any personal items left by students in the building. They would include such items as clothing left in lockers. School officials point out that most household insurance policies cover items off the premises and recommend that parents check their insurance to see if student losses are covered.
Value of the contents, which included such things as chemistry and biology laboratories, some 6,000 textbooks, 7,500 volumes in the library, other educational materials, numerous desks and other equipment, has not been determined.
The building was extensively remodeled in 1958 at a cost of $108,812. Firemen managed to save the adjoining industrial arts wing, which was also built in 1958 at a cost of $522, 049. It however was damaged by fire Dec. 31 and repair of the structure and replacement is expected to cost more than $100,000. Yourd gym, located directly west of the main high school building, also escaped the flames. It, too, was built in 1958 at a cost of $876,623.
Records Imperiled
Clinton School Board’s January Meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. today in Roosevelt school offices and plans for replacing the building and its contents will get underway during the session.
Supt. Richard Grau said construction of a replacement structure will require two years. The destroyed three-story building contained 42 classrooms, a swimming pool, two study halls, an auditorium, gym, library and several offices.
All school records were kept in fire-proof vaults on the first floor of the building, where fire did not reach. But heat and water in the area may have damaged the records. Harold Weber, principal of the school, said he did not know how much heat the fire proof vaults would stand or if water had seeped into them. (The building still was not safe to enter at midmorning.)
Copies of records for the past two years, however, are available from the Area 9 Data Processing Center in Bettendorf, which now processes Clinton school records. Records for the first quarter of the current school year also would be available from the center. Grau said it’s “questionable” that records in the high school building are usable.
Also destroyed, Grau said, were all teachers’ records for the second quarter, instruction plans, and educational materials they personally developed.
Whether or not a new high school building would be constructed on the site of the old one is uncertain at this time, Grau said. “There are some compelling reasons for building one there, he added, “ such as location of the industrial arts wing and Yourd gym.”
Big Problems Ahead
Although the building was 47 years old, school officials had no intention of replacing it for as long as 30 years, Grau said. “When we remodeled it in 1958 and added the industrial arts wing, our idea was to keep it in use for many more years.” Plans were already being made for additional minor remodeling, the superintendent added.
Just what effect the fire will have on the school board’s recently announced plans to build a new junior high school, elementary school and construct additions to Buell and Sabin elementary schools is not known.
The building program, which could require a bond issue of nearly $3 million, is considered vital in alleviating space shortages in existing facilities.
“A whole new set of problems now confronts the board of education and the entire community,” Grau said. “The fire also means there will be a greater demand on contractors.”
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