I smelled smoke, similar to the smell of a camp fire. But there's a fire ban on right now, which should've been more reason for me to get excited. Yet I still didn't bother to look outside. After checking my email and reading up on the world news, I noticed the smell of smoke was even more prevalent. I finally sauntered over to the balcony and looked outside. It was quite smokey out there. Not only that, but it was snowing large pieces of ash. Again, you would think that this would pique my curiosity and send me outside in search for the excitement. Instead, I decided to have a shower... just in case the town was evacuated due to an uncontrolled forest fire (I wouldn't want to be driving around, looking for lodgings with bedhead).
After my shower I looked outside once again and saw more people than usual driving around town. I also heard someone on a loudspeaker outside. I put on an episode of the BBC's "Planet Earth" and closed the window to block out the noise and smoke. I had to get through this DVD if I wanted to fit in my maximum number of movies for the month!
Later that day Kristine with a 'K' phoned me up and asked, "So, did you hear the school burned down today?" I hadn't heard. The morning made a lot more sense now, though. Turns out I had that shower for nothing. We walked over to the smoldering rubble and I snapped a few shots. The fire chief came over and talked to us. Apparently his vacation isn't going very well. This is possibly the biggest fire Elkford has ever seen. Surely this event will be talked about for years to come!
Don't worry. This school was not in use any more so next month's classes will not be affected by this 'disaster'.
6 comments:
Monson, I think you should stay in Elkford. 2 of 4 of the last places you have lived the school has burned down....Not odds that you want to be tempting.
hmm.. why don't you move here.. we got a couple of schools here you can burn down ;)
Too bad you didn't have a before shot. It's more impressive when you know what it used to look like.
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate ReleaseAugust 11, 2007
Closed Elkford Elementary School destroyed by Fire
At approximately 6:45 am Saturday August 11, 2007 a call was placed to 911 advising that smoke was coming from the closed Elkford Elementary School located on Fording Drive in Elkford BC. The fire originated in the centre section of the building, and by 7:30 the fire had broke through the roof and flames were visible on the outside. Although firefighters tried to prevent the spread of the fire into the north portion of the building, the fire spread rapidly through the ceiling and the entire centre and north sections of the building were lost to the flames. The fire crews have been working hard to prevent the spread of the fire into the gymnasium on the south, and although at this time this section of the structure is still standing, it will have extensive water damage.
Approximately 16 firefighters from Elkford responded to the blaze, including a few who were released from work at the local Elk Valley Coal Corporation mines to assist. In addition, eight firefighters with two fire trucks attended the scene from Sparwood.
In 2006, the District of Elkford purchased the building from the School District, with the intention of creating a community centre. The building was currently unoccupied, although a number of items were stored in the building. The building was insured, but the items stored within the building were not.
The loss of the structure is significant for the community, as the building housed many memories for students in Elkford, including artwork on the ceiling tiles from the students that attended the school. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the RCMP.
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Media contact: Corien Speaker, Chief Administrative Officer Shawn Ivany, Director, Fire Protection and Emergency ServicesDistrict of Elkford(250) 865-2241
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b187/captainradical/eesonfire.jpg
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