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Edgar school burns -- on purpose

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BY KENDRA WALTKE / Lincoln Journal Star

Saturday, Jul 26, 2008 - 06:07:28 pm CDT

EDGAR — Firefighters laden with gear lounged on the lawn around the Edgar schoolhouse, waiting in the heat and watching smoke seep from between its bricks.

The three-story landmark built in 1909 would soon become a column of smoke and flame.

Saturday’s practice burn at the school drew about 120 firefighters from about 25 departments across central Nebraska.

Story Photo
Firefighter Rob Crumbliss of Friend waits for his turn to participate in training exercises in the old Edgar High School, while his son, Conner, 6, looks on. "He keeps asking, 'When do I get to go in?'" Crumbliss said of his son, who wants to become a firefighter. (William Lauer/Lincoln Journal Star)

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Throughout the morning they took 20-minute turns inside the building, setting fires in the classrooms, and then dousing them under the direction of instructors from the state fire marshal’s office.

They would throw more than 500,000 gallons of water by day’s end, supplied by a network that included fire hoses, pumper trucks, tankers and several portable containers of water that surrounded the school.

Instructor Terry Eirich said the training exercise was one of the largest he’d seen in his 19 years of teaching firefighters.

The firefighters wore numbered Velcro tags, sticking them on a board before they went inside so emergency personnel could account for them all.

Even so, “I think we’ll run out of students before we run out of building,” Eirich said in the hours before the firefighters finally decided to let the old place go.

The last graduating class walked out the doors of the Edgar school in 1967, when the secondary school consolidated with nearby Sandy Creek. In 1994, the elementary school closed as well.

On Saturday, small groups of spectators sat in lawn chairs, bidding the school goodbye.

Troy Shuck’s son was in the school’s last kindergarten class. “We just got out the picture last week, of all the kids sitting on those steps,” he said.

Five generations of his family had attended the school.

“It’ll be different to see a flat spot there.“

Former science teacher Bob Crumbliss, 72, said his father-in-law told him that ornery students once put a cow in the school’s attic many years ago.

He wasn’t overly sentimental about seeing the school burn.

“You’ve got your attachments, but it served its purpose.”

Various ideas were passed around over the years to redevelop the building, but none took root, said Edgar Mayor Denis Moore.

“I know it’s a sad time for some people, but I think most understand. Sometimes you have to make decisions that don’t make everyone happy,” he said.

It took eight months of careful planning to coordinate the burn, according to Edgar Fire Chief Brett Lahndorf.

This week Edgar volunteer firefighters cut holes in the roof for ventilation and removed chalkboards and radiators. They placed 40 pallets in every room for kindling, along with countless straw bales.

Inside a trailer borrowed from Thayer County, medical workers checked and recorded each firefighter’s vital signs after they exited the school.

“It takes a huge amount of effort from all the area fire departments to get something like this done,” said Ben Sheppard of the Hastings Rural Fire Department, on hand to help.

Nick Schaefer, 24, of Edgar, a volunteer firefighter for four years, entered his first burning building ever on Saturday.

“It was hot,” he said.

The guy beside him had a thermal imaging camera that registered 1,580 degrees.

Inside, you can’t really see what you’re doing until the smoke clears, he said.

“There were pieces of plaster falling down. You have to watch for falling debris,” he said after his second practice run inside.

By 2:20 p.m., the firefighters were ready for the ultimate burn, lighting the school up for good.

They hustled hoses and aimed 80-foot streams of water to contain the flames.

A man atop a 1958 ladder truck from Superior threw a stream from 84 feet overhead.

Smoke-blackened glass burst from the windows.

The people sitting in their front yards caught it all on camera and video.

Chief Lahndorf had it pegged right: As he predicted, the school was mostly consumed in about 45 minutes, though the fires burned on.

Watching from the street, Mayor Moore said the schoolyard will retain its playground, and hopefully something will be built on the lot someday. The salvaged bell will be used to create a kind of memorial marker.

“We really tried to save it,” Moore said as he surveyed the burning building.

“We thought we’d get some schooling out of it one last time.”

Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.


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Betty wrote on July 26, 2008 4:14 pm:
" Why would you bring children to a fire where danger is happening? What if one of them would have run in there accidentally? Sounds like Friend and Edgar need a new line of entertainment. Good Lord. "

 Brilliant wrote on July 26, 2008 5:25 pm:
" Let's tear down and burn all our small town schools so we can bus the kids to bigger schools using $4.00 per gallon fuel. "

 good training wrote on July 26, 2008 6:27 pm:
" Brilliant, the school wasn't opperational anyway, so it wasn't a big deal burning it down. That doesn't mean that the small schools are all going to close and burn down to send children to a bigger school far away. The school in Verdon was destroyed as well. This provides good, safe training for our smaller town firefighters that may not recieve the training that the larger cities do. I agree though, children probably should not have been on site, due to the nature of the environment. "

 Carol wrote on July 26, 2008 6:40 pm:
" What a great way to recycle an old useless building. This experience will be invaluable and could save lives.

The consolidated school (Sandy Creek) only has 200 kids as it is. The school the children are "bussed" to is less than 10 miles from this building! The children who would attend this school would likely have to be bussed to the Edgar school anyway as they mostly live on farms. Paying someone to teach a class of fewer than 10 kids is a waste. "

 Firefighter wrote on July 26, 2008 10:11 pm:
" The picture with this story was taken over 200 feet from the building. There were 2 accountability officers, numerous firefighters, and a safety officer at the door of the building. I really don't think the child would have gotten in. This was a great training exercise, with over 25 agencies helping out. Almost 100 firefighters got valuable experience at this exercise. The building had been sold at least twice to try and get something done with it, and nothing came from this, it was cost prohibitive. Allthough this was a sad day for some, as one person put it, at least there was one last class in the school. "

 small town boy wrote on July 26, 2008 11:10 pm:
" Betty,
Woman, you have too much time on your hands. This was NOT entertainment. It was a carefully orchestrated practice. I am proud to be from a small town. I would take a volunteer fire dept. from a small town any day. This is how they get their practice. Read Firefighter's comments very carefully. "

 RKS wrote on July 27, 2008 1:37 am:
" Betty,
Are you kidding me? Small town firefighters are VOLUNTEERS. I'm not sure you understand that concept. These are brave men and women who spend countless hours training and maintaining equipment, in addtion to their regular jobs. All this pulls them away from their families. One of the strengths of these departments is the family. Members often bring their kids to events to share the time and experience. Many of the kids join volunteer, or paid, departments when they grow up. These kids were never in danger. As one of the other postings states, there are multiple levels of safety observers during these training exercises.
Go back to sleep Betty. Someone will be there, day or night. rain or smow, when you need them. Odds are they were inspired to join by an event like the one in Edgar. "

 MILITARY MARK wrote on July 27, 2008 1:46 am:
" Betty and Brillant, What is wrong with you people? If you have never been a firefighter then you cannot imagine the need for just this type of training - it will save lives of both civilians and especially firefighters - most of which are volunteers in Nebraska. As for not allowing children to be near the training exercise - you have got to be kidding. It said in the article that 29 departments were involved in this - do you actually think that no one thought of safety? Why don't you stop complaining and do something constructive - like volunteer in your community to help at a school or become a firefighter, you would not question this type of training if you did. Oh, and the 4 buck a gallong gas, they already come in from farms in this area so they are using gas to get to whatever school they attend. Try and be a bit more positive in the great state of NE that you call home. "

 Galen wrote on July 27, 2008 12:00 pm:
" Why NOT bring children to the scene? They were kept at a disance, there were plenty of Firemen there to secure the scene, and....the big one....

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY.

Having them watch the scene of it burning down is far better then some of them getting into trouble vandalising the building later on....

Wait...We're back to the Parental Responsibility thing....

Good training and I'm glad they got the chance to use it for a good cause. "

 Edgar Descendent wrote on July 27, 2008 2:04 pm:
" My mom's family is originally from the Edgar area(125 years now) and I've been into the building and at least it was demolished being put to good use; It's sad, but it was time. Maybe Edgar will build a community building now and replace the quonset Legion building. Edgar overall is a thriving town compared to other with enterprises like Sugar Shack. There are a lot historic building that would be awesome to salvage and save. "

 Teaching opportunity wrote on July 27, 2008 3:25 pm:
" I imagine that the firefighter is well aware of the dangers a fire poses, and relayed that message to his son. Perhaps the kids at the scene will learn how dangerous fires really are, learn how to prevent fires, and learn how to escape fires. "

 Betty Get Real... wrote on July 27, 2008 5:11 pm:
" a well ran training opportunity... A father who is a "role model" to his son... and a volunteer helping his community. Find someone else to pick on instead of people who are doing good and being responsible. "

 A former Edgar teacher wrote on July 27, 2008 5:13 pm:
" The Edgar School building had not been used since 1994. Sandy Creek was formed in 1967. The 1909 building was used as an attendance center until the elementary was moved to the Sandy Creek location. A modern building was built because of the age of the attendance centers in the local towns. This was not entertainment for the community. A great deal of effort had gone into saving the school.This decision was made in the best interest of the community because we value the safety of our youth and do not want a tragedy to occur when an unoccupied building is left to deteriorate. "

 FIre fighters daughter wrote on July 27, 2008 5:58 pm:
" Obviously you were not raised around fire fighters,or in a small town. My father is a fire fighter and my two brothers are now becoming fire fighters because of the experience of going to house burns with my father as childern. The fire fighters there are highly trained and watch everyone in the surrounding area very carefully, there is no way that one of their own would be able to run into the fire, plus they keep people far enough back that they are out of harms way. So please dont judge people in what they do, if you had ever been to a controlled burn you would see that not only are the fire fighters and their families there, but usually the whole community is in on the action. Its a great experience to be a part of, to. "

 So make fun of wrote on July 28, 2008 9:29 pm:
" way to make fun of my little cousin there was younger kids than that too all he ever talks about is becoming a firefighter someday but apparently its wrong for him too dream. "

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