The Itazuke Alumni Association

Thanks to Wanda Madaris ('66) for these TERRIFIC pictures. Her comments are with the pictures.
"I HAD GRADUATED & WAS WORKING IN THE OFFICE. I BELIEVE IT WAS LOUIS BUCHANNAN THAT REPORTED THE SMOKE. A TRICKLE OF SMOKE WAS COMING DOWN FROM THE CEILING JUST OUTSIDE THE OFFICE. WE SOUNDED THE ALARM & TWO TEACHERS GOT FIRE EXTINGISHERS SPRAYING THE SMOKING CEILING UNTIL THE SCHOOL WAS EMPTY (5 TO 7 MINS). WE STOOD WAITING FOR THE FIRE DEPT & SAW THROUGH THE FRONT WINDOWS A HUGE BALL OF FIRE ROLLING DOWN THE HALL THE FRONT DOORS LITERALLY BURST OPEN AND THE HIGH SCHOOL WAS TOTALLY IN FLAMES."
Mr. Cates in front of school just after it burst into flames. As we evacuated all we saw was a trickle of smoke from the ceiling.	This is the horrible sight most parents saw when they learned the school was on fire	That's me (Wanda Madaris) in the red skirt at the lower right.
I watched as a huge fire ball rolled down the hall & burst out the front door & windows.	The High School was destroyed in less than 20 minutes. The elementary part was saved by fire doors.	We moved to the sidewalk, then I walked home, the house at the top of the road past the Base Chapel.
When I arrived home I found a crowd of frantic parents being held back by Air Policemen. I was able to direct them toward the commissary and around to the area where kids had been taken. No one was hurt.	At this point the high school was a total loss. The main concern was the science lab gas tanks.	The secretary, Adeline Hipsley, had left her purse in the school & almost turned to go back in, we convinced her to wait. who knew
Amazingly, paper stacked in the library & office shelves didn't burn, although the edges were a little singed on the office forms we used.	The fire department people had tried to shut a fire door in the hall but could not get it closed in time so the High School was totalled.	Another view as the fire spreads. The firemen did get the fire door to the elementary end closed.
The rest of the school year was conducted in a vacant complex of two story office buildings near the Commissary. It really became more of a control issue than an educational one at that point. Former teacher Catherine Blocker recalls, "The AF personnel cleaned out with 24 hour duty an old barracks, down near the train tracks. We were back to school within about 10 days after that big event. There was a tiny little room turned into the new office."
MORE PICTURES OF THE FIRE
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