BURIEN, Wash. (KOMO) — Arson is suspected in a fire that burned for more than seven hours at a Washington elementary school Wednesday.
“It’s just scary. We have to protect our kids,” Rosey Lata told KOMO.
The burn was at the former Southern Heights Elementary School in Burien. Firefighters reported no injuries from this fire.
The Highline School District closed the elementary school a few years ago due to low enrollment. However, the campus still hosts about 100 students plus staff during the school for two separate schools, the Highline Virtual Academy & Innovation Heights Academy.
A neighbor told KOMO she worked at the school for 23 years. She described the staff, students, and their families as one big family and was sad to see the fire doing so much destruction.
The sign on the front of the building reads "1955," but her husband told KOMO that the school existed long before that—in a building he described as being a barn. The couple also told KOMO that their children went to that school.
King County Fire District #2 Battalion Chief Joe Kupferling upgraded the fire to a two-alarm Wednesday morning. Crews worked most of the morning to knock down flare-ups and extinguish the flames, which were shooting out of the school's gym. The gym's roof then collapsed Wednesday morning.
KOMO also talked with Tove Tupper, the Chief Communications Officer for the district. She said they've already been in touch with the district's insurance adjuster—who walks through the building when it's safe—to see what needs to be done.
Tupper told KOMO that their top priority is a safe and high-quality learning environment.
She said the virtual academy serves students in grades 6-12. The staff for that academy works on campus, but their students mostly learn from home, with a few days together on campus throughout the school year.
One of Lata's three daughters attended Virtual Academy.
“It was amazing. The teacher was nice," Lata said. "I mean it was amazing staff. She loved it. It worked amazing she learned so many things through virtual.”
According to Lata, the other program—Innovation Heights Academy—is an on-campus program for grades 9-12. Those students attend classes on campus, on a half-day schedule.
Kupferling said there were at least two other fires in the area overnight as well: one in a box truck and another in a school dumpster, in the Burien and Normandy Park areas of the county.
Burned brush and other debris were visible at the scene, indicating potential arson.
People who live in the area were told to close their windows as heavy smoke was circulating in the area.
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