Lakewood police were working with the Fire Department to investigate the blaze. Investigators believe the fire started in storage sheds behind Building No. 39, then spread to the portable building that housed the Early Care and Education and paraeducator job training programs.

“It’s likely arson,” fire Capt. Jenny Sharp said.

No injuries were reported, and the fire did not cancel the day’s classes. Students were directed to other classrooms on campus for their job training.

College President John Walstrum said that hearing the fire likely was intentionally set was shocking and disappointing. He said there have been no other such fires on the campus in his nearly two years at the college.

The fire destroyed the computer equipment, supplies and files inside the building.

“There were computers at every desk,” Walstrum said. “The building took quite a hit.”

Flames lingered in the attic space of the 7,100-square-foot building, located in the portable-village portion of the campus in the 4500 block of Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest.

Three dozen firefighters spent about five hours getting the blaze in the hard-to-reach space under control. That occurred about 9:45 a.m.

Investigators then spent hours sifting through the charred remnants to find out what sparked the blaze. They gave no further details about the suspected arson. No arrests had been made.

A custodian spotted the fire in the portable on the west side of the campus and called 911 at 4:30 a.m., Sharp said. No one was in the portable at the time.

The building was equipped with sprinklers, which went off in the classroom portion of the building but did little to douse the flames since the fire was above the outlets.

The fire damaged the nearby sheds that contained teaching equipment, Sharp said. There was no threat of flames spreading to other buildings, and classes started as normal, she said.

The college was working with the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges on how to deal with the effects of the fire.

The Early Care and Education program has nine faculty members and a couple of hundred students, Walstrum said. Those students will meet in other rooms starting today.

The college also plans to reopen other parts of the portable village today. One building sustained some damage, however, and won’t be available until Monday, Walstrum said.

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268

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WHERE TO CALL IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING

Investigators ask anyone with information about Wednesday’s likely arson on the Clover Park Technical College campus to call Lakewood police at 253-830-5000.