Dateline: January 8, 2004

Fire damages Hedley school building

By Ashlee Kidd, Clarendon Enterprise

A New Year’s Day fire inflicted extensive damage to a metal building adjacent to the main Hedley public school building last Thursday morning.

The building housed a weight room, concession stand, and men’s and women’s restrooms used during the football season, according to Hedley School Superintendent Bryan Hill.

“The bathrooms are severely damaged,” Hill said. “There is also water and smoke damage throughout the weight room and concession stand.”

Hedley volunteer firefighter Randy Shaw said firefighters received the call at 11:22 last Thursday morning.

“It took about 30 minutes to get the fire under control, and we stayed until about 12:30,” he said.

Twelve men from the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department were called in to help the nine volunteer firefighters from Hedley fight the blaze.

Shaw said that the fire probably originated from an electric heater in the men’s restroom.

“That’s the only thing we could see that would have caused it,” he said. “All of the contents were a loss.”

Hill met with an insurance adjuster Tuesday who told him the insurance company would cover all expenses to tear the building down and rebuild.

“The insurance adjuster did not say how much it will cost, but the company will pay for all of the costs of replacement,” the superintendent said.

“We would like to see work begin on the building as soon as possible,” he said. “We hope to have it finished by early spring so we can use it for spring sports.”