Photograph by George Sakkestad
Hillbrook preschool teacher Diana Daughters looks up at the gutted remains of her classroom following an early-morning fire on Jan. 14.
By Shari Kaplan
Eric the turtle will remember Jan. 14 as the day he almost became turtle soup at Hillbrook School.
A gas-fired wall heater was the cause of a fire in the preschool building at Hillbrook, a private school located at the end of Marchmont Drive in Los Gatos. At 7:20 a.m., staff living on campus noted a possible fire in the preschool building--which is detached from all other buildings--and called the Central Fire District, which responded with two fire engines, one truck company ladder vehicle and a battalion chief. Chief fire investigator Bill Hardwicke and fire-investigating dog Dolph also arrived at the scene.
It was a "working fire" when the first engine got there, which Hardwicke said means that flames were clearly visible. The fire took about 15 minutes to get completely controlled, Hardwicke said. The last fire personnel left the scene at about 10 a.m., after checking the building thoroughly and inspecting for remnants of the fire that might still be smoldering.
According to Hardwicke, an old gas heater built into the wall apparently malfunctioned, causing the wooden framing near the vent pipe to catch on fire. The flames then spread up the wall and throughout one of the three small rooms in the building.
The one-alarm fire caused approximately $80,000 worth of damage, Hardwicke estimated. No children were on campus that early, and there were no injuries. Resident turtle Eric remembered not to panic, but remained quietly in his aquarium to await rescue.
The building may remain closed until school concludes this summer; it will then be restored and ready for use again by September. In the interim, Hillbrook's 44 preschoolers will be housed in various rooms in the school's gymnasium.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 22, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.