Clean up and repair of SBE’s school shop after November fire

by Jenny Chissus

Today, Julie Cisco, Risk Manager from the Kenai Peninsula Borough was accompanied by Tim Vlasak from the Kenai Peninsula School District and Kevin Lyons with the Kenai Peninsula Borough to update the community about the process ahead regarding the clean up and repairs to our school shop after the fire on November 24th.  I appreciate Julie taking a moment to visit with me to share with the community the plan for our shop’s renovations.  There has been concern over the future of the structure, and the good news is that it is a sound building, and though there is a lot of clean up to do – we will have our shop back!

I also had an opportunity to visit with our principal, Alan Haskins after the meeting to go over a few more details and to gain his insight – which we wanted to share with the community.

Jenny:  Who reported the smoke that was visible at the site that morning?  How long was from the time it was reported to the time of the fire department on the scene? How much time did it take to contain the fire?

Alan Haskins:  Tyler Tucker from the city noticed and reported the fire to 911.  The fire call came in at 5:45 am, and the fire department was on scene at about 6:00am. Fire was contained in about 1/2 an hour. 

Jenny:  Please give us a brief description of the damage that was caused?

Alan Haskins: The majority of the damage is cosmetic, but there is some roof damage and damage to the old gym floor from the water. With lots of asbestos exposure.

Jenny:  Realizing that we don’t know the timing, but we’re thankful that the process has begun, and that the borough will start cleaning up shortly, what are your hopes for the completion of this project?

Alan Haskins:  Here is my analogy there are a 100 steps to the process and we are on step 3.   I hope to see that the building would be open at the start of next school year.

Jenny:  Julie mentioned that there will be more public input and participation and up coming meetings, what do you feel the community can do to support this project?

Alan Haskins:  I will keep the community informed about the project as I receive information. I will request meetings with all parties as we reach major steps in the process.

Jenny:  I’m sure you want to give a big thanks to Tyler and to the fire department for a job well done!

Alan Haskins:  Yes I want to thank the volunteer fire department and Tyler for making great decisions on the morning of the fire.  Their quick response kept the damage to a minimum.

Jenny:  Do you feel that with the opportunity to make upgrades and improvements on this building, that there will be different spaces created, or classroom changes to enhance opportunities for student learning in Seldovia?

Alan Haskins: I do see this event as a way to make improvements for the students at Susan B English.

Jenny:   It appears that there’s a lot of involvement between the borough, school district and the city, can you elaborate on that any further?

Alan Haskins:  The district, borough and city are working together to move the process along smoothly. I want to thank everyone who came to the meeting, it really shows that everyone cares about the education of our young people.