Updates are in red italics

As of 2 p.m., fire crews were still monitoring a hot spot or two, but the fire was out. Bellingham Fire and Police departments are joining to conduct the investigation, which may take several days.

Whatcom Middle School caught fire about 1 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5. By 6 a.m., the school was still on fire. (To read the initial story, click here.

Whatcom students and staff should not report to the school, but all other schools are open. Bellingham School District officials are meeting around 9 a.m. to figure out a plan of what to do with students and staff. For up to date information, click here.

Whatcom Middle School students will not have school Thursday or Friday. According to district spokeswoman Tanya Rowe, the building will not be inhabited any time soon.

The roof of the school is at least partially collapsed.

I was on scene from about 3:30 til 5 a.m. and here is what I found:

Bellingham Fire Department Chief Bill Boyd said a call came in just after 1 a.m. saying there were flames on the roof. By 1:15 a.m. when crews arrived, the 3-alarm fire had spread from the right corner of the school to across two-thirds of the roof. Fire crews were initially sent through the front door, but the fire spread “so quickly across the roof” it was not safe and crews were withdrawn. A secondary sweep of the school had not been done.

As of 5 a.m., the fire had been contained to the top floor of the school (which has a daylight basement and two floors above ground) and the roof. Boyd said they were trying to keep the fire from spreading to the wood floors in the classrooms on the first floor.

Crews have been successful in keeping the fire away from the gym, however the roof of the school is essentially gone.

Between 75 and 100 firefighters have been battling the fire, coming from departments across Whatcom County.

Fire crews have been worried about the winds, which may have help feed the fire on the roof. Neighborhood patrols have been looking for any spot fires in surrounding properties.

As of 5 a.m., roads surrounding the school and neighboring city blocks are closed wtih detours in place.

No cause has been determined at this point.

Whatcom Middle School, which was built in 1903 and is the district’s oldest school building, has been under a seismic retrofit since the middle of last school year.

This is the second Bellingham school to burn in recent memory. Kulshan Middle School burned down in the summer of 1993 just weeks before it was set to open. The cause of that fire was an faulty electrical connection between an extension cord and a soda machine.

Please check back later for more information.

I took the photos below about 4 a.m.

Whatcom Middle School caught fire early Thursday morning, Nov. 5.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 5:12 am and is filed under Bellingham. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.