TULALIP – A weekend fire caused $250,000 damage to a tribal preschool, leaving 35 children without a place to learn.
Tulalip tribal leaders plan to meet this morning to consider possible locations to temporarily house the preschoolers.
They also are set to discuss options for rebuilding the Tulalip ECEAP Preschool, at 6729 Totem Beach Road, Tulalip Tribes General Manager Shelly Lacy said.
Most of the school’s equipment and supplies will likely need to be replaced.
An apparent electrical malfunction in the building’s attic sparked the blaze late Saturday night, Snohomish County Fire District 15 Deputy Chief Steve Jahn said.
It was a “real stubborn fire without a lot of flame,” Jahn said.
Dorthea Tsoodle, a Tulalip tribal member, was driving by the preschool just before midnight Saturday when she saw smoke billowing from the building. She said she could see flames, reaching about a foot high, bursting through the roof along with dense smoke.
“At first I thought it was just chimney smoke, and then I thought, ‘That’s too much smoke,’ ” Tsoodle said.
Tsoodle called Tulalip tribal police and waited near the preschool until fire crews arrived.
Although the flames were brought under control quickly, fire crews worked for about five hours in icy conditions to battle pockets of smoldering insulation, Jahn said.
Sawdust insulation, which is common in some older buildings, was tightly packed into the walls and attic. Fire crews had to pull apart the building to shovel out the insulation, he said.
Crews from around the region were called to help clean up the mess, he said.
Temperatures were near 15 degrees. The bitter cold made fighting the fire that much more difficult. Crews had to bundle up, and a sand truck was brought in to give some traction to the road. Water from fire hoses turned to ice, Jahn said.
No one was injured, he said.
On Monday morning, the building appeared to be intact, but the acrid scent of sodden wood and office supplies hung in the air.
Mounds of frozen sawdust were scattered around the charred building.
Preschool will be suspended until the tribes find rental space and replacement equipment, Lacy said.
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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