Investigators have been unable to pinpoint the cause of the April 22 fire at Highglen Montessori elementary school.
Marcel Profeit, the fire prevention captain for Prince George Fire Rescue, said Friday the origin of the fire is believed to be an electrical fault in the roof area of the building, but there is not enough evidence to provide conclusive proof.
"It definitely didn't start in the classroom, it started above that in the plenum area between the drop ceiling and the roof, but we're unable to determine what the exact cause was," said Profeit. "We can't 100 per cent pin it on electrical, but that's where we're leaning."
Profeit credited the rapid response time of the initial fire crew for limiting the damage to the school. Firefighters from the No. 2 hall, at Fifth Avenue and Ospika Boulevard, were on the scene three minutes and 38 seconds after getting the call.
By that time, smoke was visible and it quickly turned into an intense blaze, fed by roofing insulation and tar roofing material that produced thick black smoke. A steady breeze that day also fed the flames. Profeit said the rest of the school suffered no structural damage.
"The guys did a very good job holding it into that corner," said Profeit. "That plenum space between the roof and the ceiling is wide open throughout the school and it would have been very easy for that fire to travel the whole roof structure and then we could have lost that whole school."
Nineteen firefighters from four halls responded to the call with five vehicles. One firefighter suffered a knee injury battling the blaze and was taken to UHNBC for treatment.
Two classrooms were destroyed, including the roof structure above both rooms, and there was extensive heat, smoke and water damage to the rest of the building. Profeit estimates 15 per cent of the school was burnt. No dollar estimate has been put on the damage and Profeit said that will be left up to insurance adjusters.
"Certainly anybody who has driven by can see there is a portion of the school that does not have walls anymore and the roof has been extensively damaged," said School District 57 superintendent Brian Pepper. "The inside of the school from one end to the other is toxic. There's a thick film of material over everything and the smoke seeped into everything from locked cupboards and closed storage spaces.
"I haven't been in the building, it's too dangerous to go in and only individuals with appropriate safety equipment have ventured inside. We're anxiously awaiting what the experts will tell us about the building and the contents of the building."
The school's fire alarm was triggered and the fire was reported at 3:35 p.m., an hour after students had been dismissed from their Monday afternoon classes. At the time, the only occupants of the building were teachers involved in a staff meeting and children and staff of the school day care facility, all of whom exited the building quickly.
"There were a lot of positive things more by happenstance that occurred and averted what could have been a catastrophic situation," said Pepper. "We were quite fortunate in the time and first responders were on the street quickly. They provided a really nice human element to some pretty shocked people on the outside."
The Highglen fire was the first school fire in Prince George in recent memory. Deputy chief Blake King said he could not recall any other since the fire that destroyed nearly half of Vanway elementary school more than 30 years ago.
"School fires are very rare," said Profeit. "I'd like to think it is because of the work in education we put into prevention in schools. We inspect them once a year, we do a lot of education with not only the students but the staff as well, and they do their fire drills three times a school year."
The 236 students who attended Highglen are now based at Gladstone elementary school in College Heights.
