McCall Idaho Headline News

An early morning fire Sunday destroyed the music room at Meadows Valley School and caused smoke damage throughout the building.

There were no injuries in the fire, which was discovered shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday.

The fire was traced to a strip of electrical plugs in the band room, Meadows Valley Fire Department Chief Jeff Luff said.

The music room, along with its instruments that included a recently donated piano, was destroyed in the blaze.

The school's weight room was badly damaged, and the gym floor and ceiling were blackened with soot.

Smoke damage also spread through the building, but classrooms on the south end of building are usable.

"The only thing left are the screws and the hinges." -MV Fire Chief Jeff Luff describing intensity of flames on a fire door

Preliminary estimates by MV Superin¬tendent Terry Donicht set the damage at $500,000.

Cleanup crews were working in earnest this week. As of Tuesday, most of the school was scheduled to be open on schedule Monday following spring break, Principal John Preston said.

The gym, music room and weight room will be closed indefinitely, Preston said. About 214 students are enrolled at Meadows Valley School. The single building houses students from elementary grades through high school.

Meadows Valley volunteer firefighters responded to a report of the fire just after 2 a.m.

Fire crews began fighting the fire through two windows that had blown out on the north side of the music room. All 10 volunteers who were in town during spring break responded, Luff said.

The McCall Fire Protection District sent two firefighters and a fire engine to assist, and Meadows Valley EMS had three EMTs on scene as well, Luff said.
Open door helped fire

The firefighters made entry through an eastern door to the gym and fought the fire with a second hose from a doorway leading from the gym to the music room, Luff said.

The damage would have been considerably less had one door been closed that led from the gym to the music room, Luff said.

"I'm just convinced had that door been closed the damage would have been a lot less," Luff said. "We were real lucky to catch it through that east door."
The fire began in a cord lead¬ing to a power strip alongthe floor on the west wall of the building's northern most room.

Either the cord had damage to its insulation or something heavy was on it that caused it to short out and catch fire, Luff said.

The initial blaze burned a desk and papers and then spread upward to the ceiling, leaving a V-pattern that pointed fire investigators to the source.
"That's one of the major clues, it literally points to the point of origin," Luff said.
There were significant plastic and synthetic materials to help the fire spread. The fire worked its way around the band room and then headed toward the gymnasium, Luff said.

Luff guessed the fire smol¬dered for an hour before the windows blew out, which allowed air to enter and fan the flames.

Preston was notified at 1:50 a.m. by the school's alarm com¬pany that there was a system malfunction in the duct work at the school.

As Preston drove to the school to check out the alarm, he saw smoke coming from the building and called 911 to report the fire. He stayed on scene to open doors for the firefighters.

The fire was also reported by New Meadows residents Boyd and Colleen Moore, who noticed smoke coming from the school from their residence to the south of the school.

The fire reached temperatures of 1,200 degrees and completely consumed a two-inch thick fire door leading from the music room, Luff said. "The only thing left are the screws and the hinges," he said. Another door that leads to the stage closer to the fire's origin was not consumed by the fire.

"It's a little interesting. Luckily a door to the stage held, while another one at the east of the room was completely consumed," Luff said.

A firewall between the music room and the stage overlooking the gym stopped the fire from spreading into the gym.

"Fire was intense in the music room, it did not take the fire long to penetrate the ceiling, but with¬out that firewall the fire could have easily spread through out the building to the south," he said.

The fire would not have caused as much damage had a sprinkler system been installed in the build¬ing, Luff said.

A sprinkler system wouldhave likely confined the fire to the west side of the room, Luff said.

The school was originally completed in 1969, before Idaho required sprinkler systems.

"There were no code violations," Luff said.