Saratoga News
News
Photograph by George Sakkestad
Saratoga Fire District investigator Jeremy Davis takes a charred piece of artwork out of the art lab at West Valley College. An accidental fire caused by an electrical appliance destroyed the building.
Fire destroys art building at West Valley College
By Michele Tjin
A three-alarm fire swept through a building housing an art lab at West Valley College on Dec. 4, destroying the building and claiming final art projects students had been working on all semester.
The fire, which caused an estimated $300,000 in damage, was accidental, caused by one of the electrical appliances in the building, according to Saratoga Fire District investigator Jeremy Davis.
"We've determined it was started by either an air purifier or a motor on one of the fans in the building," Davis said. "Everything in the building is a total loss."
The fire was called in at approximately 6 p.m. by two students who were walking past the building and noticed smoke coming from the inside. No one was in the building when the fire broke out.
"In a strange twist of irony, the art students were having their art show and reception in the gallery, so no one was at that building," said Philip Hartley, West Valley College president.
Members of the Saratoga Fire District were joined by firefighters from the Santa Clara County Fire District and San Jose Fire Department and were able to control the fire in about an hour, containing it to the art lab.
Saratoga Fire District firefighter Dan Marino suffered minor injuries to his shoulder when a piece of ductwork fell on him. He was taken to an area hospital, where he was treated and released.
Hartley believes the quick work of firefighters allowed the rest of the art complex to escape damage; classes were able to resume in the surrounding buildings the next day.
"The response was incredibly fast," Hartley said. "Firefighters from the city and the county worked as a big team and really brought the fire under control in a relatively short time. The entire building is a loss, but they were able to contain it to just that building."
Students from four separate ceramic sculpture and metal sculpture classes utilized the art lab to work on class projects. The majority of the student projects were lost, but, according to West Valley College art instructor David Ogle, some of the sculptures that had already been cast survived.
"My sculpture class uses the building the most," Ogle said. "Right now the students are kind of stunned, but they are holding up, as am I."
Ogle has been an art instructor at the college for more than 30 years, and as one of the founders of the sculpture program, he helped open the art lab building in 1973.
"I'll be doing fine for a while, then I realize that 30 years of hard work has gone up in an hour," Ogle said. "We are lucky, though; there was a huge amount of damage, but it was mostly just equipment. We'll figure something out for the spring."
The 1,800-square-foot building was targeted for replacement in the next few years under the college's master plan, according to Hartley. Now the school will have to move ahead with its plans a little quicker than anticipated.
"We will replace it," Hartley said.
As the college looks at options to move forward with replacing the building, Hartley said it is fortunate the semester is nearly over.
"We won't need to teach there until the end of January, so we have time to think about alternatives," Hartley said.
