Lyons High School - Lions Den Yearbook (Lyons, IN)

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Page 47 text:

' ire estroys YOU hool 500,000 Fire Razes L ons School, m t The Washington township Grade and High school buildingland gymnasium at Lyons burned to the ground,1 along with pi-acticallv all equipment and su lies Sunda 1 . . ' - , DP Y l THOTIUHS, in the most disastrous school fire in Greenea county history. Unofficial estimates of the loss l d 't t I1 above a half-million dollars. pace I a we Today. Lyons school officials announced that a meeting of all school patrons of the township would be held at 8:00 o'clock Tuesday night at the Lyons First Methodist' church. to discuss the future of the school and emergency measures to be taken to care for the educational needs' of the school's pupils. The school. during' the 1956-'57 ter , ' i80 'lv ' the Grade school and 87 in the Highmsciglzcdlf pupls m Only a part of the brick walls and brick partitions of the school building were left standing by the fast-moving flames early Sunday morning. Township Trustee Charles Lace, School Principal Charles Street and members of h 1 I Linton, Ind. CSpl.J-A fire, visible for several miles, early yesterday destroyed the 50- year-old Washington Township School and gymnasium at Lyons, eight miles southeast of Linton. Damage to the two-story brick and frame building was estimated at S500,000. Town- ship Trustee Charles Lace, whose house next door was endangered, said he believed the school was insured for S250,000. Firemen from four Greene County cities of Lyons, Lin- ton, Bloomfield and Worth- ington fought the blaze for three hours unsuccessfully. When they arrived flames were shooting from several By 8 a.m. only a few walls were left standing and authori- ties planned to raze them as a safety measure, The cause has not yet been learned but firemen believed the fire may have started from defective electrical wiring. , ALL SCHOOL RECORDS were destroyed along with fur- niture and other equipment. Duplicate records are on file in the Greene County Schools su- perintendent's office at Bloom- field. School was dismissed three weeks ago for the summer. However, workmen had been in the building Saturday sanding floors and installing a sump pump in the basement. Following the fire, Trustee . . . i f e ll ashington Township Advisory Board held an emergency ,-.-.-.- . . Z.. L, meeting S u n d a y afternoon to consider plans for knocking down, the walls, some of them toppling dangerously. Found at 4:45 A.M. The fire was discomered at about 4:45 o'clock Sunday morn- ing by Stanley Pickard, 22 years old, of Lyons, who'was returning to his home from Vincennes. He said that as he approached the town on state road 67, from about a mile and a half south- west, he saw some smoke in the air. He noticed more ot the smoke, coming from the school building, when he drove past the building. Pickard went to the Lyons Telephone office and, after a few minutes, was able to have the fire siren sounded. Then, with Melvin Biggs and two or three others, he drove the Lyons fire truck to the school building. Trucks Are Called Fire trucks were called to the lscene from Worthington, Linton I l l and Bloomfield, and the Greene Cotta-ty Emergency Truck went there from Linton. By the time the Lyons fire truck arrived at the school building, some of the windows in the building were shattered by the heat, and when the air struck the flames they began lzurning fiercely. Veteran fire-fighters who were at the scene said that the flames spread with almost unbelievable rapzdzty. The interior of the building was ':'JD3Ufl'.6fi in lass than three hours, and the Linton Fire truck relurned here before 8:00 am. 45 -t windows. iLace and his advisory board met to make plans for accom- modations for the school's 260 elementary and high school L pupils for next fall. i Burning of School T Arouses Emotions 1 A Lyons woman today told iof her emotions and impressions p 4. You :during the fire that destroyed the 'ing 'mit ' oelow tj-Dug-,ers and youl iwashingbon township Grade and See sever-31 cniicn-en in night ,----jlm 1 - -1 High sdhool building Sumdlay Clothes and know there wasn'tEand, so lt is when the Lyons lmorning. time fgr them 1,0 dress, lschool burns. Everyone is grieved She wrote the Daily Citlzenz' You watch 'the fire fightersiancl saddened. are awakened out of goodlthere is so little for them to do - sound the sirens 'blows so shrilly. You sleep at 5:00 o'clocl-t when ibut to stand by . Now you S66 that the band instruments are. dash to the windows and in the being taken from a .part of the early ,morning light you can seelbuilding that the fire has not- the ugly black smoke rolling up reached and you feel thankful and up. 'You hurriedly slip into 'the clothing that is nearest and .away I Everyone is going and you stop to see the County Emergency ftruck coming. The fire trucks . from nedgiboring towns with ,their volunteer crews are arriv- ing. department Hs already at the An-d you feel a profound You know the local fire aocene. thankfulness for all those who so willingly volunteer. the flames are shooting Now skyward and you feel the heat land you are not yet very near. It ls terrifying and you feel weak 'iso you ,Surely, l You - garme find a place to sit down, this can't be. note the hurriedly-donned nts of all the spectators L, Such an array of colorful house, and belore -brebllqlastf' l4o1lLa clot ess There arenpajamas .peep- that something is saved. How- ever, you think of all the books, you go. lequipment, and school records thiat are now going up ln smoke . I The fear that the adjoining buildings may be .burned has meant many are heltping carry the furnishings from homes near- 'by. Surely, all the folks in B little' town really know how f-O pitch in and help- ,The flhmes and heatf are frightening and YOU- wish YO'-l were far away. As the crashes are noted you feel that much more than just a building is lfaiung. Then you begin to 'see l-he lexpressions on the f2CeS Of G11 .that are there. No one smiles and it seems all to be almost fin .shocl-t . You .think Of hearing lthat in the Alamo no one Smile?- You see so many who are closely toucned by the tragic loss. First you see the young- sters and their parents. There are the teachers the janitor and the kitchen workers. How your heart goes out to them. Some one asks how did if start? and Who discovered it? -but uppermost in your mind iS the question Now what will be done? And then S0me one -says We'll have a new and better school and you silently voice a little prayer that this will be so. And you remember Upon the education of this country the fate of the country depends -Disraeli. Andiyou wonder why you are so deeply concerned--you have no children in school and in no way do you lfave any associ- ation yvith the school. But you cannot but feel deeply the tra- gic loss and you want regard- less of tax increases or any needed sacrifices a Unew and ,better school. Surely there are many who feel as you d0.