January 28, 2015
By Shan Moore CHAMPLAIN - The massive stone structure on the hill here is encased in ice, its windows open to the elements, walls partially collapsed. As of Friday, Jan. 23, the cause of the fire that destroyed two thirds of the former St. Mary’s Academy, including that oldest section, remained under investigation, Champlain Volunteer Fire Department Chief Pete Timmons said. The cause is not considered suspicious, however. Cross outlined in flames For a brief time before the main roof fell in, the cross atop the stone structure was outlined in orange flame, onlookers said. Flames spread into the 1940s addition that held the gymnasium and cafeteria, but fire doors held it back from the long structure that holds several classrooms. That section suffered some smoke and water damage. Friday, St. Mary’s Parish pastor, Father Clyde Lewis told Hometown Cable Network television that he hoped the newest section could be salvaged, but further evaluation was needed. Parish Center It had offered pre-school for 3- and 4-year-olds as well as kindergarten through sixth grades. It was still in use for religious education classes, other parish activities and community events. ‘Sudden fire’ There had been no signs of fire before she caught that “strong, burning smell,” she said. “Absolutely nothing,” she said. She’d been in the locker room in the school basement, off the gymnasium. “The minute I got to the top of the stairs, the lights started to flicker,” she said. Then, she saw a red glow at the far end of the corridor where the middle section met the oldest part. Mr. Trombley, a firefighter himself, called to report the blaze as Linda Seymour struggled to close the fire doors between the newest and middle sections. The floor was warped, so they wouldn’t shut completely, Mrs. Trahan said, but firefighters forced them closed afterwards. In large part, that’s why the newest section - the former high school - was saved, she said. “They certainly did their job.” The burst pipe had nothing to do with the fire, she noted, saying it was in a classroom at the opposite end of the school. Guardian Angel Some are parishioners of St. Mary’s, even attended St. Mary’s Academy, Timmons said. His son, Nikolas, was a student the three years before the school closed. Fighting the flames was perilous work, with the danger of collapsing walls, and crews had to quench fire that caught in the eaves of a nearby home. Afterwards, it was said that Father James Delbel, who’d been pastor during the school’s final years and died in 2013, offered protection to them all. “I heard several people say he was watching over us,” Timmons said. Feels stunned Had circumstances been different, she or any of the others in the building when the blaze began could have been trapped inside, she said. She watched the firefighters at work, the building crumbling, late into the night, feeling stunned at the turn of events, at the loss of the former school. When she finally returned to her car, she found a precious bit had survived, however. “A fireman placed a statue in my car that they had salvaged. About 2 ½ feet tall, it represents the Virgin Mary. “I don’t know who did it or how,” Mrs. Trahan said. And a week later, the statue remained in her car. Yes, the plaster image is too heavy for her to lift on her own, she said. “And she’s kind of protecting me, I guess.” |
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