Firefighters save large portion of memorabilia at Highland High as students, teachers regroup
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POCATELLO — While many rooms in Highland High School were burned beyond repair in last week’s fire, many memories were rescued from the flames.
The Highland High Fire ripped through the D building of the school’s campus, leaving the cafeteria and gym in total disrepair. The hallway of this building featured a hall of fame of Highland alumni through the years, stretching back to 1963 when it was established.
To the shock of many in the community, Highland Principal Brad Wallace guessed that about 90% of the pictures from this hallway were rescued by firemen.
“The heart that (the firemen) showed in their work and the things they did to try and save memorabilia really has touched the Highland family and so we’re grateful to them for their sacrifice and their hard work,” Wallace said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
In an interview with EastIdahoNews.com, Pocatello Fire Chief Ryan O’Hearn says saving the memorabilia in the hallway was part of an approach they use at every fire. They focus on safety of life, incident stabilization and property conservation.
“There was a heavy body of fire when we arrived and crews made entry and aggressively engaged the fire,” O’Hearn said. “As soon as they had suppressed the fire enough that conditions improved, some crews began salvaging property as they could because we know how much that means to the community.”
Other people in the community have questioned why the firefighters didn’t try to save other pieces of memorabilia in the band or choir room. O’Hearn addressed that during Monday’s news conference.
“The opportunity just wasn’t there. Those areas were directly involved at the seat of the fire location and there just wasn’t an opportunity to get in there to do any salvage operations in those areas,” O’Hearn explained.
See firefighters removing pictures and other memorabilia in the video above.
Whenever firefighters go into a burning building, O’Hearn says they always assume someone is inside. O’Hearn doesn’t believe there was anyone inside the building at the time of the fire. There were no injuries or fatalities.
The cost in damages hasn’t been determined yet because the investigation was focused on the cause. EastIdahoNews.com reported earlier Monday the fire was the result of electrical failure due to faulty equipment.
RELATED | Highland High School Fire caused by electrical failure; accidental in nature
Jonathan Balls, Director of Business Operations with the district, says the building is fully insured and the district’s high claims adjuster has been on the scene.
“They’ll be assessing the damage and assigning a cost to that and we’ll go from there in the rebuild,” Balls says.
Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 spokeswoman Courtney Fisher says they have been working with insurance and have not identified any needs for fundraising to address property losses.
“We understand that community members at these times feel compelled to give during these crises and we encourage those compelled to make a contribution to do so through our official channels,” Fisher said.
For this week, the school district plans to have Highland students completely online. After this week, District Superintendent Douglas Howell says “Nothing is off the table. We are exploring every option possible.”
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, administrators have learned that longterm virtual and remote learning is not what’s best for students. That’s why they’re trying to provide some face-to-face learning opportunities.
Right now, the district’s primary focus is relocating the administrators and clerical staff to the Portneuf Valley Technical Education Career Campus. There are five classrooms on this campus and there’s a call center with a built in sound system. They’re still working out a way to provide lunch to students.
Idaho State University has offered classroom space, but Howell says there’s a limited time to finish school so using additional space will have to wait until after graduation on May 8.
“We don’t want to create any more changes or transitions for our kids that aren’t necessary,” Howell said.
Despite what the Highland High School student body has been through this weekend, the principal says the kids are strong and resilient and he’s humbled by their confidence in them.
In the last few days, he says students have come up to him and said, “Hey, how are you doing? Everything’s going to be okay, we’ll be good.”
“That’s motivating, that’s inspiring,” Wallace says.