PORTLAND, Ore. – Hundreds of Marysville Elementary School students and staff who escaped Tuesday's fire will attend classes at a Northeast Portland school, starting next week.
Tuesday's three-alarm fire at Marysville sent huge plumes of smoke into the sky above Portland Tuesday but everyone escaped safely. The Portland Fire and Rescue Bureau said 460 students and 17 teachers were accounted for and sent to Holgate Public Library. A 53-year-old male staff member was taken to Providence Hospital for breathing problems. The fire broke out before noon at the school on SE Raymond and 77th. Fire Bureau spokesperson Kim Kosmas said crews were able to hold back the fire after it had burned around half of the building. Firefighters also were able to prevent the fire spreading to nearly 10 surrounding homes. The 85-year-old school hosts Kindergarden through 8th grade. Parents were being called and told they could pick up students at the library, but staff would also be staying there until the end of the school day and buses would be running from there. There were two roof sections that collapsed, Kim Kosmas with Portland Fire said. "A lot of the building is still standing ... but with the amount of damage it's hard to say when children will be able to use the school again," she added. The fire started in a part of the building called the Discovery Zone. One student speculated it may have been sparked by an electric lamp, but the exact cause was under investigation. "Everyone thought it was a drill," one fifth-grader said. Students said they were out of the building within about two minutes. Portland Public School District officials praised staff and students for their quick actions that got everybody out safely -- and just last week there was a drill to evacuate students to the library. "We have teachers, like, 'thank heavens we practiced this,"' PPS spokesperson Carole Smith said. "Our teachers were awesome, our principal was awesome ... I feel really blessed." There was no school Wednesday because of Veterans Day and district officials were working on a plan to get the students into classes at another school.
