THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 3, 1995 TAG: 9509030043
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
Princess Anne High School's nightmare worsened Saturday.
With the main building wrecked by Friday's fire - which officials have ruled was the work of an arsonist - new fears arose that the rest of the school may be contaminated by asbestos released during the firefighting.
``When we were doing our overhaul,'' tearing out walls that hid hot spots, ``we had to cut through asbestos panels,'' Fire Department spokesman Mike Wade said Saturday. Otherwise, the fire might have smoldered and rekindled. But doing that ``opened up a whole can of worms,'' he said.
Asbestos dust - a cancer-causing agent - may have been released into the air or carried around the building by the water used in fighting the fire.
``Now we have to go in and do testing to determine what levels of contamination they have in that whole school,'' Wade said.
With that, the list of challenges to surmount, before the school's 2,000 full-time and 740 special students can begin classes, grew longer and still more uncertain.
School officials, aiming to start classes a week late, had planned to use undamaged wings of the building for at least some of the 85 classrooms they need while using 18 portable classrooms and relocating some students to sites around the city. Now the whole school may be useless until a costly asbestos clean-up is done.
``We knew that something like this might be coming,'' said Anne Meek, assistant superintendent for organizational support. ``So while we went ahead and made tentative plans, we knew we might have to fall back and regroup.''
For now, officials will turn their attention to ``getting our other 80 schools open on Tuesday,'' Meek said. ``The next day, we will get back together and get everything nailed down with Princess Anne.''
But the big questions - whether the school's fire-ravaged main building will be saved or razed and what the ultimate cost will be - may remain unanswered for days or weeks.
``The speculation at the fire scene was that the second floor was hopeless,'' Meek said Saturday. On the first floor, main support beams were twisted and walls had to be shored up to prevent collapse. ``But until we get a report from the engineers, everything is speculation.''
Engineers were ready to move in for an inspection Saturday, but the building was sealed off because of the asbestos threat.
Technicians in protective suits moved methodically through the school, collecting samples. Test results are expected Monday.
In the meantime, the meter is running on what may be the costliest fire in the school system's history. But Meek said that, with so many unanswered questions, officials can't even guesstimate what the price tag will be.
``The insurance adjusters think it will take several weeks to arrive at dependable figures,'' Meek said.
Wade, the Fire Department spokesman, said investigators settled on arson as the cause of Friday's early morning blaze after ruling out any possibility it was an accident. He said evidence was found that someone broke into the rear of the building and set the fire on the second floor, just outside the newly renovated library.
Wade declined to be more specific and said ``no comment'' when asked whether the fire had started in more than one place.
It was unclear whether the school had a burglar alarm, but it did have fire sensors. And despite rumors to the contrary, Wade said ``it worked as intended'' and that the first alarm came from the library.
Wade, appealing for public help in identifying the arsonist, said that some people have come forward and that ``we have some information that we are following up.''
At the school Saturday, crews hammered large pieces of plywood over smashed windows and broken doors. The smell of smoke was heavy in the air.
A steady stream of cars rolled slowly through the parking lot all day as their occupants stared at soot-stained windows and walls.
``You can see a lot of hurt in their eyes, especially the older ones who graduated from here,'' said security guard Ron Jones.
``One girl had tears in her eyes,'' he said. ``She said, `My grandmother graduated from here. My mother graduated from here. And it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to graduate.' She was upset.''
Some people stepped out of their cars, stood and quietly stared at the building. The only sound: a slow, steady drumbeat of a cable slapping against a flagpole in the wind.
``It's very much like a funeral,'' said Marie Wells, 56, an English teacher at the school for 31 years.
Wells pointed to the middle of the burned second floor. ``There's my classroom with all its wonderful things. My treasures.''
Wells said she had kept thousands of poems, papers, notes and other things produced by her students over three decades - some by students whose own children she now teaches.
``I would pull these papers out and say, `See what so-and-so wrote back then,' and a student would say, `That's my mother's!' '' Wells said.
Meek said fears about salvaging official student records were eased with the discovery that all computer records had been copied the day before the fire. MEMO: Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call investigators at
427-4228 or Crime Solvers at 427-0000. ILLUSTRATION: Map
Some locations in this map were incorrect in many Saturday
newspapers. We are reprinting the correct map today.
Graphic
INFOLINE
For up-to-date information on the school, call the Virginian-Pilot's
INFOLINE at 649-5555 and enter category 7247 (PAHS).
KEYWORDS: ARSON FIRES PRINCESS ANNE HIGH SCHOOL
ASBESTOS by CNB