High School fire out with luck and skill

By Patricia Bogumil

Editor

Fire investigators believe foul play had no role in a predawn fire that broke out at Waterford High School April 15, according to Racine County Sheriff Chris Schmaling.

Instead, the cause of the fire in an auxiliary room off the main gym is considered to likely be electrical in nature.

“We believe it was a lightning strike that blew a bullet hole through an outlet” with a stainless steel plate, explained Keith Brandstetter, the high school’s superintendent. Noisy storms rolled through the area before dawn Monday, bringing with them high winds, rain and lightning.

But the Big Question that remains is why the building’s alarm system did not send out a message to alert emergency responders to the fire situation.

Instead by sheer luck Twyla Clark, a third-shift Racine County Sheriff’s deputy on routine patrol, spotted white flashing alarm lights inside the school around 4:45 a.m. Clark set in motion a response that arose to quell the fire.

“We are very proud of Twyla Clark – her diligence and persistence in demanding that a key holder get involved,” said Schmaling.    In Schmaling’s view, Clark’s actions kept the building from becoming a total loss, or a least a loss costing many thousands of dollars.

“This is exactly the kind of patrol that we expect of our deputies,” he added.

The fire started in what is commonly called the wrestling room, which is a 30-foot by 60-foot auxiliary gym off the main gym.

Before the fire, the room’s walls were mounted with about 25 foam mats to cushion practicing wrestlers from banging into the hard brick walls.

Staff would have rolled up and removed those mats soon, to be replaced by indoor batting cages.

Brandstetter said the room had been routinely checked around 8:30 p.m. Sunday night by a custodian who is sure nothing was amiss at that time. Another staff member left the building at around 10 p.m. Sunday, and also saw no problems at that time.

The same custodian then arrived back at school Monday around 5 a.m. He checked on the wrestling room after being contacted due to the deputy’s concerns. The janitor found lots of smoke being generated by charred, smoldering and melting foam mats, and emergency services were quickly called in.

The question of why the system did not send out an alert for emergency aid continues to be investigated, said Brandstetter. But it’s thought some mechanical fault in the system has arisen. Sunday night, a janitor noted that a “911” call had been sent out supposedly from a concession stand that doesn’t have a phone in it, he said.

Brandstetter said although the fire was put out quickly, smoke inside the school early Monday was really intense.

A decision was immediately made to cancel school Monday out of concern for the health and welfare of students.

Briefly, it was thought teachers would be able to come in, but then about 6:20 a.m. a decision was made to cancel school for them also, due to the persistence of the smoke.

Tuesday, when the building re-opened, it was clean and ready, with carpets around the weight room area shampooed and HVAC air filters replaced.

“The custodians did a remarkable job, taking ownership of this to get it all cleaned up,” Brandstetter said.

On Monday, April 22, the Village of Waterford plans to honor Clark by presenting her with a commendation before the Village Board’s 6:30 p.m. meeting.