Are Oregon Schools Prepared For A Fire?
Thursday, April 02, 2015
Despite standard fire inspections, safety codes, and required insurance, older buildings and action plans can make the impact from fire more devastating for some schools.
“Even if you do everything right, there’s no way to predict if there’s bad wiring or an electric failure—a lot of things can go wrong,” said Chuck Ransom, superintendent of Woodburn School District, who is still feeling the impact of a 2012 fire at the high school. “You think of schools a as safe place. A fire makes you feel vulnerable and it takes a while to get over it.”
SLIDES BELOW: 10 Significant Portland Fires
There were 210 Oregon school fires in 2012, according the most recent data from the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal. Yet the higher-alarm fires are more rare—sometimes one or two a year.
On Wednesday morning, a four-alarm fire at South Albany High School engulfed the cafeteria, as well as the music room and storage units.
“The building is a total loss,” Jim Haggart, the public information officer for Albany School District. “This cafeteria served several elementary schools in the district. It also stored band, choir, cheerleader and dance equipment—it will have a big impact on the students.
Insurance
Almost all of Oregon’s 197 school districts are covered with fire insurance through Property and Casualty Coverage for Education (PACE), a Salem-based, self-insured liability pool that serves education service districts and community colleges as well.
Districts pay premiums based on claims history, the size of school, and the value they want covered, according to PACE Spokesman Alex Pulaski.
For some schools that keep having issues, claims will go up, just like standard insurance. Last year, claims dropped significantly around the state, and on average there was only a two percent increase, according to Pulaski.
When it comes to fire inspections and safety equipment, most districts follow International Fire Code guidelines and requirements, according to Lieutenant Joseph Troncoso with Portland Fire and Rescue.
“Districts normally mirror each other,” Troncoso said. “It’s usually pretty standard and uniform.”
The PF&R has two inspectors specially dedicated to school inspections, which occure every two years. Schools are also required to have monthly fire drills and quarterly school lockdown and earthquakes drills as well.
“If we had something to do it better, it would be intergraded into the fire code. Fire inspections are taken very seriously,” Troncoso said. “The code has evolved a lot over time, with a lot of things added in the last two decades.”
The conditions of many Oregon schools are often a factor in the level of destruction. The older buildings are often made of wood frames, helping spread the fire, and can lack the most modern saftey equipment.
“Oregon has a huge problem in outdated school buildings,” Pulaski said. “New buildings are very expensive to build and many districts have a difficult time passing bonds to update them.”
A fire code requires any school building constructed after 1995 to have automatic sprinkler systems. Yet many Oregon schools are built before 1995, thus exempting them from the requirement. The code can deter many schools from adding on or making other improvements.
Even with fairly standard insurance and inspections across Oregon’s school districts, it is still up to the district to respond promptly and efficiently to the disaster.
Pulaski said although PACE can help assist schools after a fire, the district should have plans in place and move forward quickly to getting things back on track.
“I don’t know how many schools have a backup plan available or are able too,” Ransom said. “For us, we needed a week to get the plan in place and bring students back in.”
Yet truly getting the school back to normal takes longer than that.
“Our heart goes out to South Albany High School and the district,” Ransom said. “We need to stick together in these times. The only sliver lining is people really come together and bend over backwards for each other.”
Related Slideshow: 10 Significant Portland Fires
A four-alarm fire ripped through South Albany High School Wednesday morning, causing more than $1 million in damage.
The community will spend the coming weeks and months recovering from the blaze -- but it's not the first time a fire has significantly impacted a Portland area school, church or neighborhood building.
Here are 10 significant fires to recently impact Portland area communities.
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