The flicker of flames inside the Norphlet High School library caught the attention of Coach Dennis Steele, NHS athletic director, Saturday morning when he went to the school to get papers for the day’s softball tournament. The fire was contained by noon by the Norphlet Volunteer Fire Department. School will be session Monday as usual.
Steele said, “I got over there about a quarter to seven and we were working on the softball field. I had to go the school and get a sheet run off. My room is in a separate building from the main school. When I went in, the fire alarm was going. That happens a lot — the boiler sets it off and it is nothing.”
But this time, the fire alarm rang the truth. “I go into the main school, open the door and smoke comes boiling out. That’s when I knew, with all the smoke coming out, it was pretty bad. As soon as I saw that, I shut the door. I didn’t know if the oxygen would ignite the fire,” Steele said.
“I shut the door and called 911. I called the mayor and our fire department. Our fire department got there pretty quickly and found it (the fire) in the school library. As far as I know it was a wire that was something wrong.”
“We are fortunate that I went over there. No one responded to that alarm. If I hadn’t gone there, the whole school could have burned down,” Steele said.
He also called Norphlet High School Principal Keith Coleman.
Coleman said that the Norphlet Volunteer Fire Department was on the grounds until about lunch time. Because the fire began inside the school library, “the books in the library are lost,” Coleman said.
“There is extensive fire, smoke and water damage in the high school,” Coleman reported. He also emphasized that there will be school on Monday and that students should report to the auditorium. At that time, students will receive information about their modified schedule and room assignments.
“There will be a brief teacher’s meeting,” he added.
Saturday evening, Coleman was calling teachers and setting up the new classroom arrangements from his temporary office in the elementary building. As he worked to sort out the details for school on Monday, Metro Disaster Specialists from North Little Rock worked at cleanining up the damage. A crew of cleaners wiped down the residue of smoke in the classrooms not touched by the fire or water. Emergency lights lit the darkened hallways, but outside, only a plywood panel over three windows and the assortment of vehicles testified to the day’s earlier events. Most of the damage stayed inside the building.
Assistant Superintendent John Gross was on the grounds all day. He had gone to the school to help prepare the softball field with Steele.
“We were up there early. Steele had to run off forms. About 7:30 we saw the smoke and flames and called 911 and got the fire trucks around 8 a.m. There was considerable damage in the library; smoke damage and damage in the hallway. The fire went out of the library and into the hallway. Some of class pictures from years past were lost. There is considerable loss of memories,” Gross said.
“It was lucky that Steele saw — another two hours and we could have lost the whole building.”
“We did contact the Norphlet Fire Department and the El Dorado Fire Department and insurance adjuster. They all concurred it was an electrical fire that happened and got into the wood in the door and up into the ceiling and the wood and the insuation.”
“There was a lot of damage,” Gross said. “We will not get back into the building this year.”
He reviewed the plans and progress made on Saturday toward opening school on Monday.
“Some of the kids will be in extra space in elementary and the auditorium and the art room. The rest will be situated around the high school. We have enough space we can space the kids out.”
“We have all the desks set up. A lot of the teachers have come and gotten their supplies. We have the kids’ supplies in boxes with their locker numbers. All the kids 7-12 will meet in the auditorium on Monday. Mr. Coleman will talk about procedures,” Gross said.
From the auditorium, he said that students will go to the gym and pick up supplies from boxes.
“We are in the middle of testing period. We are going to be fine.” Gross mentioned other staff members who had worked all day getting things ready.
“We are making plans and working with the teachers as far as getting materials in the classroom. The biggest problem will be the computer system. We will meet at 7 a.m. tomorrow to re-route the lines so that they will be up and running by tomorrow night and ready by Monday.”
“If not, the distant education classes will have to go to Smackover and be bused there. I think we can get all that running,” Gross said.
“It has been a busy day, but we have made a lot of progress. We saw the fire about 8 a.m. By 11 a.m., we had the restoration crew there. They’ve pretty well got a lot of the mess cleaned up in the hallways with temporary lighting. I left just a few minutes ago. They will work later tonight and be up early.”
Still, he recognized, “There is no way we can get back into the building this year. We will remodel and restore it by this fall.”
The Smackover-Norphlet School Board had earlier this year approved a major overhaul of the Norphlet High School.
“We have been interviewing construction management for the planned remodeling,” Gross said. “Nothing had been finalized. This changes things. Hopefully we can get all new paint, floors and ceilings done. A total upgrade was planned.”