KALAHEO – A police and fire investigation has started into the cause of an early morning blaze that destroyed the administrative building and six adjoining classrooms at Kalaheo School. Kiana Tolbe, who lives across the street from the school, was
KALAHEO – A police and fire investigation has started into the cause of an early morning blaze that destroyed the administrative building and six adjoining classrooms at Kalaheo School.
Kiana Tolbe, who lives across the street from the school, was one of the first residents of homes adjoining the school to spot the fire, and called in a report to the 911 emergency line at about 3 a.m.
She said a friend returned home at about 2:45 a.m. and spotted what she thought was a small fire at the school, but didn’t think it was unusual. At about 3 a.m., she said, they began to smell smoke from the fire, which she said had a distinct odor of electrical equipment burning.
The Kaua‘i Fire Department responded within 20 minutes, according to reports from the scene, and the fire was under control by 4:30 a.m.
Tolbe said it looked like the fire originated on the cafeteria side of the campus, then spread to the right side of campus, as viewed from the street fronting the school.
“People from Koloa said they saw the fire,” Tolbe said of the scene at the fire just after 3 a.m. “Everybody was walking down, and there was this big cloud of smoke.”
Kalaheo Elementary will be closed on Monday, May 9 to complete a clean up of the school’s grounds. School is scheduled to reopen on Tuesday, May 10, according to state Department of Education officials.
The school serves approximately 480 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Plans are being activated to relocate classes held in the destroyed building to other campus facilities.
Outside the fire scene in the hours after dawn on Saturday, stunned teachers, parents, and students stared through the acrid smoke as fire fighters worked to douse hot spots beneath the layer of corrugated iron that was the roof to the administrative building.
“We just finished our science project,” a student said, her eyes moist. “And, I left my backpack there. Now, it’s gone.”
School principal Eric Burkman was notified of the blaze shortly after it was reported and helped fire and police crews in containing and extinguishing the blaze.
Burkman, said that the classroom — building behind the burnt administration-classroom structure suffered only minor damage. Two portable classrooms, one housing the school store, have melted louvers and other damage, and will be reopened in a few days.
Hamada, in a phone call Saturday afternoon, said Burkman and Kalaheo School teachers met Saturday to create a school reopening plan. He said affected students will be moved to other classrooms. The school library and cafeteria are expected to be employed.
Hamada said backup copies of school records are stored electronically at the central office in Lihu‘e and are safe and not destroyed.
By daylight the fire fighters had the situation well under control and were awaiting the arrival of an excavator to lift portions of the burnt buildings so they could extinguish the hot spots underneath.
Hamada said that at one point fire officials noted that the classrooms back of the administrative building were warm. He credited the daily drizzle that mists through Kalaheo with preventing more damage.
Burkman said the back classrooms at the school sustained minor damage, and still had electricity, running water, and working computers.
Kaua‘i fire chief Robert Westerman, who was on the scene, commended the crews that worked on the fire, noting: “They did everything textbook perfect. I can’t say I would’ve done anything differently. They did what they had to do, and they did a great job.”
Eyewitnesses said the Kalaheo fire crew arrived first on the scene, followed almost immediately by the Hanapepe-based crew. About five minutes later a unit from the Koloa station arrived followed by a hazard materials unit.
Fire investigators who were on the scene noted that due to the age of the building, there might be asbestos removal involved in the cleanup.
Spectators were quick to offer rumors surrounding the cause of the blaze, one saying that clothes were spotted flying on the flagpole at the time of the fire, another noting that a plaque was taken from the office building and thrown through one of the windows in the cafeteria.
They also noted that the building was fully engulfed in flames by the time the first fire units arrived, which may point to the fire being maliciously set.
A late-arriving spectator who heard the news while cleaning the Holy Cross Church recoiled when she realized that the roofline that greeted her was from the far classroom, and not the administrative building.
A fire destroyed an administration building at Wilcox Elementary School in Lihu‘e in March, 2003.
Arson was suspected as the cause of the Wilcox fire.
