Associated Press
ABERDEEN — A spectacular fire early Sunday gutted an Aberdeen High School building that dates to 1909, forcing school officials to cancel classes at least through the middle of the week.
The three-story structure, called the Weatherwax building, housed about 20 classrooms, a library, computer labs, a counseling center and decades of memorabilia.
Classes for 1,100 students were canceled at least through Wednesday, Superintendent Marty Kay told The Daily World of Aberdeen on Sunday. The school board was scrambling to find emergency classroom space elsewhere on the campus.
The building was considered a total loss, but there were no injuries. The cause of the fire had not been determined.
The Phillips building on the campus, which houses administration and about half of the classroom space for the school, was saved by firefighters from six districts, as were the auditorium, music and auto shop building, cafeteria and two gymnasiums.
The three-alarm blaze, which was discovered just before midnight, drew mutual-aid reinforcements from Hoquiam and Cosmopolis and three other fire districts.
About 1,000 residents, many in their pajamas, gathered in the early morning drizzle to watch as the flames jumped from the roof.
Fire marshals were investigating the 58,000-square-foot building Sunday. Initial reports indicated the fire started on the first floor, but it spread quickly and the three-story building was engulfed in towering flames.
Firefighters paid special attention to the north side of the building, protecting the boiler room, which contains the School District’s central heating system for all surrounding buildings on the high school campus.
Repairs must be made to the main chimney before heating can be restored to the rest of the campus.
"When the initial crews were called, the fire was in the lower floors," said Aberdeen Fire Chief Dave Carlberg. "They attempted to make an interior attack, but explosions started going off in the building."
The firefighters were driven out of the building and began protecting other nearby structures, including homes, several churches, a parochial school, the Driftwood Playhouse and the Aberdeen Museum of History.
Associated Press
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