ROD THOMPSON /RTHOMPSON@STARBULLETIN.COM Charred remains of desks and fallen roofing material littered the floor of a classroom yesterday at Waiakea High School in Hilo. An early morning fire of unknown origin caused major damage to six classrooms.

Fire forces closure
of Waiakea High

Officials scramble to relocate
classes from the affected building

School bus firm shuts down

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By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com

HILO >> Waiakea High School in Hilo remains closed today for a second day after an early-morning fire yesterday caused $400,000 in damage to classrooms and left school officials scrambling to relocate classes.

Three of 10 classrooms in the school's Building R were directly damaged by the fire, but no room can be used because electricity was shut off to the building, said Principal Ron Furukawa.

A firefighter was injured in the fire, which was reported at 3:27 a.m. Firefighters had the fire under control 45 minutes later, but it flared up again briefly just after 9 a.m., officials said.

Fire Department Battalion Chief Richard Kihara said the fire started in a small storage building next to Building R.

As flames rose, wind carried their heat to the second floor of Building R. Although the building is made of concrete block and cement, the wood frame roof caught fire, Kihara said.

Furukawa said two rooms on the second floor were completely gutted and a third was partially damaged.

Downstairs, one room suffered water damage, while three others were "fairly OK," he said.

It is unknown how the heat may have damaged the strength of the building, he said. Inspectors from the state Department of Accounting and General Services were being cautious about a damage assessment and declined to make a dollar estimate, he said. Fire officials, however, estimated the loss at $400,000.

Kihara said the storage building was surrounded on three sides by a high chain-link fence. Inside were items ranging from a riding lawnmower to a floor wax stripper to reams of paper piled in stacks, he said.

There was no forced damage to the fence nor to the locks on the building, Kihara said. But a determination on the cause of the fire will depend on results of tests on materials from the scene sent to a police laboratory, he said.

Waiakea High, which resumed classes on July 31, has about 1,300 students, Furukawa said.

Waiakea has ample classroom space in wooden "portable" buildings, Furukawa said, but teachers needed yesterday and today to organize a move into the alternate classrooms, he said.

The school, at 155 West Kawili St., will reopen tomorrow.