Fire ravages Riverhead school, classes canceled Wednesday

For the second time in less than a week, a fire has ravaged a Long Island elementary school - this time in Riverhead.

Tuesday, a late-afternoon blaze severely damaged the main classroom building of the Riverhead Charter School and forced the closing Wednesday of the entire school, officials said.

Principal Dorothy Porteus said, "It could have been much worse."

No one was injured, Porteus said. "I'm so thankful that the kids were already gone. It didn't start until a couple hours later."

Last Thursday, fire destroyed South Bay Elementary School in West Babylon, forcing officials to convene classes at Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church. Tuesday was the students' first day.

VIDEO: Click here to see footage from the blaze

About 235 children from kindergarten through sixth grade attend the Riverhead school on Route 25 each day, Porteus said, going to classes at one of the school's two classroom buildings. There are three buildings on the site, two modular and one historic.

The fire erupted in the building where about 135 kindergarten through third-graders take classes. Teachers working late, sometime after 5 p.m., notified Porteus in the administration building that there was an unusual smell in some of the classrooms, she said.

When Porteus and another administrator went to investigate, there was still only a slight smell of smoke, she said, but by the time they stepped out of the building, the automatic alarm had gone off, the fire department had been notified, and she could see the first signs of flames along the roof line.

Firefighters from Riverhead, Wading River and Manorville arrived about 5:45 p.m. and brought the fire under control at 7:06 p.m., fire officials said. There was no information Tuesday night on the cause of the fire or if the building was equipped with sprinklers.

There is extreme fire, smoke and water damage to the building, Porteus said, adding, "It's pretty discouraging." While the other classroom building was not damaged, there's not enough space there to house all the children, Porteus said. "We obviously have to find another site for our kids. We're going to have to find an alternative place and repair the damage . . . if it can be repaired."

The Riverhead charter school, which opened in 2001, is one of the tuition-free charter schools that operate independently of regular school systems in New York State, with public financing based on the number of students they attract.

While all classes Wednesday were canceled, Porteus said, teachers and school officials will be there at 9 a.m. to begin planning the school's future.