Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Fire destroys middle school gym

As school district officials this morning surveyed damage and tried to finalize a plan to accommodate the Aug. 29 start of classes, investigators were trying to determine the cause of the four-alarm blaze that destroyed the Roy W. Martin Middle School gym Tuesday afternoon.

Las Vegas Fire & Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said that just prior to the fire, crews had received a call about kids playing with fireworks in the area but investigators did not yet know if that was connected to the fire.

"It's too early to speculate," Szymanski said Tuesday night, cautioning that reports of fireworks are common in the days after the Fourth of July. Firecrackers could be heard popping in the distance as he spoke.

Because of the intensity of the blaze, what was left of the gym was too hot for close examination Tuesday, Szymanski said. Investigators were expected to begin sifting through the rubble today, he said.

School police spokesman Darnell Couthen confirmed that authorities detained some people for questioning about the blaze.

"We did receive some information and those people who were taken in may be able to provide more information," he said, refusing to elaborate.

At the time of the fire there were five children and five adults at the city's Hadland Outdoor Public Pool, which is used during the summer months for recreation and aquatics programs, officials said. No one was injured in the fire.

The school, which was built at 2800 Stewart Ave. near Eastern Avenue in 1959, had been set to be retrofitted for "fire protection," according to district documentation. The renovations included adding additional fire hydrants and flame-resistant ceiling tiles but did not include sprinklers.

Investigators and school officials, who planned to walk through the school this morning, were still determining the extent and cost of the damage. The gym was a complete loss, the kitchen and cafeteria somewhat damaged, and the rest of the school largely untouched.

Szymanski said the fire was reported at 4:23 p.m. and that it soon grew. Smoke billowed over nearby U.S. 95. Children at neighboring community centers were relocated downtown. Clark County and North Las Vegas firefighters joined in the effort.

A total of about 75 firefighters used 30 fire vehicles to fight the fire, which was under control in about an hour, Szymanski said. He said the age and construction of the gym made the fire difficult to tame.

"This thing is like a gigantic furnace and it's putting off a lot of heat," Szymanski said. "Everything on the inside is made of wood."

He said the school is among the oldest campuses in the valley. The gym had a wood floor, wooden bleachers, and wood beams in the ceiling. It lacked a sprinkler system, which was not required when it was built. The gym was to be included in school renovations, to begin during the summer, which may have included a sprinkler system.

"Had there been an automatic sprinkler system in there, I think the damage would have been much less," Szymanski said.

Szymanski said firefighters initially went into the school to fight the blaze but had to switch to defense when the building became unstable. The gym's roof and portions of the walls eventually collapsed.

"We didn't want anybody inside the building because all that stuff fell inside," he said. "They got out just before the collapse."

He said the children who were using the school's swimming pool, next to the gym, were safely evacuated when the fire began. When the smoke cleared, the children's shoes remained poolside.

Clark County School District Associate Superintendent of Facilities Paul Gerner watched the fire with maintenance employees from across the street.

While the pool is owned by the city, the locker room is school property and the two entities have a reciprocal use agreement, said Bill Hoffman, senior counsel for the School District.

The city's aquatics program was allowed access to the locker room area only and the adjacent gym was locked, Gerner said. There has been speculation based on preliminary witness interviews that children were playing with fireworks inside the locker room area, Gerner said. If that was the case, a locked door wouldn't have kept the blaze from spreading to the gym,

Gerner said."Each party assumes responsibility for its own negligence," Hoffman said. "No conclusions have been drawn as to who the negligent party is in this situation. Our primary interest is getting the school repaired. We're certainly going to consult with the city after the investigation is concluded."

Contrary to the fire department spokesman's opinion, Gerner said he didn't believe sprinklers would have made much difference.

"There's so much old wood inside of that thing, if you get a spark ... I don't think the world's greatest sprinkler system would have saved it," he said.

Gerner also was not sure how the loss of the gym would impact classes at the school.

"I can almost entirely assure you that we won't be able to build a gym in a month and a half. How we'll respond to that is something we'll have to figure out in the next couple of weeks," he said.

The campus was in line for nearly $7 million in renovations and repairs that had not yet been scheduled. The bidding process was opened June 15 for $5.3 million in "fire protection, HVAC, plumbing and lighting," according to the facilities department's report. The district was also scheduled to start accepting bids to replace the school's roof, a job estimated at $700,000, next month.

While the cost to the district to rebuild the gym will depend on the size and any special features preliminary estimates put the price tag at $6.5 million, said Fred Smith, construction manager for the district. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the district's insurance policy would likely cover costs over $100,000 to rebuild the gym.

As one of the district's oldest campuses, Martin is in line to be rebuilt, Smith said. While sprinkler systems are installed in new buildings as a matter of course, the district has held off on putting them in some older buildings that are slated for replacement.

"It's a question of what's the best use of the money," Smith said. "Is it worth it to do costly renovations on a facility that's just going to be torn down in a matter of months or years?"

Clark County School Board member Susan Brager-Wellman, when told of the blaze, said she was "grateful nobody was in there, that's a blessing."

Logistical problems, including how to provide physical education programs for the 1,300 students assigned to the campus for the 2005-06 academic year which begins in less than eight weeks, will have to be addressed, Brager-Wellman said.

Martin Middle School includes the International Preparatory Academy magnet program. The curriculum is designed to prepare students for participation in the International Baccalaureate program at Valley High School.

Christina Bunten, 13, recently finished sixth grade at Martin and was to return for seventh grade in the fall. She watched the fire with a friend.

"It's just really weird and crazy," Christina said as the flames began to subside. She said she moved to Las Vegas a year ago and hated to see her new school burning.

"It's really scary because you might have to move to another school," Christina said. "You don't want to go to a different school. You want to go to your school."

Christina's friend, Elizabeth Kerner, 17, had also attended Martin and watched the fire with her.

"I went here. It brings back memories," she said as fire trucks sprayed water into the gym. She said no student really wants to see her school on fire.

"Even if they don't want to have school, they don't have school pride, or hate school altogether, they're terrified to see their school burn down."

Named for Dr. Roy W. Martin, the first physician to have a private practice in Las Vegas, the school was built for just over $1 million. The cost of building the district's current middle school prototype is about $35 million.

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