TOPPENISH — Smoke billowed from the ruins of a building at the Heritage University campus Monday, as investigators probed the cause of a fire that forced the temporary cancellation of classes and left school administrators scrambling to ensure academics were not adversely affected.
Heritage University, a private, liberal arts college on central Washington’s Yakama Indian Reservation, serves roughly 1,200 students. Hispanic and Native American students comprise two-thirds of the student body.
The fire Sunday destroyed Petrie Hall, a 1926 building that was the university’s first structure. Petrie Hall housed a cafeteria, bookstore, computer labs, an art collection and several classrooms. There were no injuries in the fire.
About 226 students are enrolled in summer classes that are scheduled to end next week.
The fire disrupted telephone and Internet service at the school. Classes were on schedule early Monday despite the interruptions, but the fire also disrupted water service to the school and forced the cancellation of classes at noon for the day.
The university also closed a child care center that was not damaged but had no access to food service.
“Our primary goal is to make sure we don’t slow things down academically,” said John Bassett, university president.
The cause of the blaze remained under investigation by the Yakima County Fire Marshal’s office, investigator Ron Rutherford said, though the smoldering blaze was still too hot for access on Monday.
Rutherford estimated damages at $2.8 million for the building and its contents.
A school custodian who called the fire department said he first saw smoke coming from an area with kitchen appliances.
The university has been working to develop a long-term plan for growth, Bassett said, including construction of a performing arts center and student activity center on 20 acres of land recently donated to the university.
Taking down Petrie Hall wasn’t part of that plan, he said. The university must find a new home for its technology infrastructure, relocate a cafeteria and bookstore and determine a schedule for fall classes that doesn’t include the lost classrooms.
“Our hope is that by the first of August we’ll know what we’re going to do for the long term,” he said. “I just don’t want to disrupt any of the education for these students.”
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