SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – A fire at Sierra House Elementary School on November 11, 2018 was caused by an electrical overload due to “daisy chain wiring” of two power cords in a classroom.

When firefighters from Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) arrived at the school at 9:35 p.m. they found smoke once the front doors were opened and flames observed as they turned the corner near the “upper pod” wing.

“It was a matter of minutes away from being a total loss,” said LVFPD Fire Marshall Brad Zlendick.

The school’s fire alarm had been activated and LVFPD Stations 6 and 7 responded to the call. Fire crews from South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Douglas, Meek’s Bay, Calfire and North Tahoe also arrived along with California Highway Patrol, South Lake Tahoe Police and El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.

The fire began in the school’s 15’x15’ reading intervention classroom space and spread into the hallway, another small room and attic.

Once the fire was extinguished and Zlendick and the insurance investigator finished at the scene, restoration company ServPro went into the school on Monday, November 12 to begin remediation protocols to address the damaged areas, smoke odor, and soot removal. Smoke odor affected the hallway adjacent to that space, the upper pod (2nd and 3rd grade classrooms), the main hallway, and the multi-purpose room.

Air scrubbers were installed in all affected areas throughout the school and ran continuously for 48 hours prior to the school-reopening. Air scrubbing involves machines that suck air through a series of hepa filters and is exhausted back into the environment, removing 99.97 percent of air particles. Fifteen filters were changed out at least twice each during the first 48-hours. Air scrubbers continue to run in all affected areas.

Before demolition began, samples of all materials which were to be removed from the building were tested for asbestos and other chemicals. Test results were received Monday night, Nov. 12, and revealed no asbestos or other dangerous chemicals detected. School was closed on Tuesday so that demolition could begin. Contents from the reading intervention rooms were removed to be inventoried. The bulk of the demolition process was completed by Tuesday evening, as planned. Contents that were potentially salvageable were set aside, and those that were not were placed in a dumpster.

With excellent outside air quality, and available resources, safe re-entry and re-occupation of the school was completed in just days.

Sandblasting to remove the charred areas around the framing, inside the contained burn area, began on Saturday. Sandblasting was completed that day and was prepared for inspection by structural engineers, Gabbart & Woods of South Lake Tahoe. The inspection took place on Nov. 19, and the report will be available soon. The area remains blocked off and contained.

Most of the school is now odor-free, but there are still some spaces with detectable residual odor. People who are more sensitive to odors may continue to smell smoke in the school for an unknown period of time.

Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) is thanking the community, staff and parents for the outpouring of support, advice, and assistance.

“The cooperation between first responders, the district, and the professional agencies below, has allowed us to maintain safety standards while minimally impacting the educational process,” said LTUSD Superintendent Dr. James Tarwater.

Their thank you is extended to: Lake Valley, South Lake Tahoe, and Douglas County Fire Departments; CalFire; El Dorado County Sherriff / South Lake Tahoe Police / CHP; Servpro; Innovative Electric; Environmental Testing and Consulting (Reno, NV);
El Dorado Roofing; Gabbart and Woods Structural Engineers; KS Telecom; Simplex;
Environmental Health Department; Maverick; LTUSD personnel: Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, maintenance, IT, custodial, and food services.

Going forward, the two affected reading intervention rooms will be assessed by an engineering team to plan for reconstruction.

“We look forward to sharing the plan for reconstruction as soon as it is available,” added Dr. Tarwater.