Tacoma firefighters battle heavy smoke, flames at long-closed Eastside middle school
Update, 4:10 p.m.: An excavator knocked down a portion of the former school building’s facade, Tacoma Fire Department officials said, destroying the school’s historic sign that has read Franklin B. Gault Intermediate School since the building opened in 1926.
The wall across the front of the building was pushed down on the second floor at about 2 p.m. because there was a concern about it collapsing onto the sidewalk below, Tacoma Fire Department spokesperson Joe Meinecke said. He said Tacoma Public Schools has a demolition permit for the site.
“That’s not their real demolition. That’s just the temporary, today demolition if you will,” Meinecke said. “The majority of the front wall is intact still and still pretty stable.”
The school district’s plans to demolish the building can continue once the fire department releases the property back to TPS, Meinecke said.
For now, firefighters are still working to put out hot spots from the fire, which Meinecke said is otherwise considered under control. So far no one has been able to enter the building due to safety concerns. He said Thursday is the earliest that could happen so investigators can determine the cause and origin of the fire.
Original story: A fire broke out Wednesday morning in an Eastside Tacoma middle school, sending large plumes of smoke into the sky while firefighters worked to control the flames.
Tacoma Fire Department crews responded to the former Gault Middle School building around 4:13 a.m. and arrived to find heavy flames and smoke, officials said. The school, located at 1115 E. Division Lane, closed in 2009. Since then, the site has been troubled by vandalism, litter and property damage. In June 2022, a fire occurred that was suspected to have been caused by someone illegally setting off fireworks.
It’s unclear what started the Wednesday morning blaze. Crews said several portions of the roof have collapsed, and while smoke conditions have improved since earlier in the morning, nearby residents were advised to keep doors and windows closed.
Three ladder trucks were called in to blast water on the fire from above, and more than 30 firefighters were on scene, Fire Department spokesperson Joe Meinecke said. It’s too dangerous to enter the building, so he said the strategy is to use those big water streams to keep the flames contained.
The bulk of the fire was in the main, historic portion of the building, Meinecke said. Crews knocked down the fire there, he said, but at about 10 a.m. fires were still burning in secondary structures where the flames spread. The 7.3-acre property includes six buildings.
Once the blaze is contained, Meinecke said crews will have to let it burn until it creates a hole allowing firefighters to get more water to the interior. He said he expects crews to be out for several hours Wednesday, and they’ll keep an eye on the site overnight.
“It’s not uncommon in a fire this large to have hot spots that take hours to get out,” Meinecke said. “And sometimes we have to bring in excavation equipment and so it will be extended operations there.”
No injuries have been reported, and Meinecke said crews didn’t see anyone leave the building when they have arrived, but the structure hasn’t been searched. He said once the fire is completely extinguished, a search will be conducted, and work will begin to determine the cause and origin of the fire.
Meinecke said the last significant fire he remembered at the school was in 2022, but crews are called there at least a few times a year. The building has been a source of neighborhood complaints for more than a decade. The latest plans to renovate fell through, The News Tribune reported in October, and Tacoma Public Schools applied for a demolition permit.
This story was originally published January 3, 2024 at 9:01 AM.
