Flowery Elementary School fire causes $15,000 in damage

A fire broke out at an unoccupied, modular classroom at Flowery Elementary School in the Springs area of Sonoma on Monday evening, causing an estimated $15,000 in damage.

A neighbor in the Rancho Vista Mobile Home Park made a 911 call at 5:08 p.m., and the first Sonoma Valley Fire District engine was on the scene approximately 4-minutes later, said Battalion Chief Bob Norrbom.

“We found a small fire on the exterior of a modular classroom at the rear of campus,” Norrbom said. “The fire did not extend into the building and was quickly contained to an exterior wall and a small portion of the sub floor.”

The inside of the classroom was not damaged.

Three fire engine companies, an ambulance from Sonoma Valley and a CalFire engine arrived at the scene, and the blaze was quickly extinguished.

No one was injured. The cause of the fire had not been determined as of Tuesday, but is under investigation.

“Right now, we are assessing the damages and ensuring that the portable building is still stable and able to be used, which is likely the case as the damage was only on the outside,” said Josh Braff, associated superintendent of business services for Sonoma Valley Unified School District. “If that remains true, then we will proceed with repairing the damage. If the building is not deemed safe, we will have to discuss next steps.”

Braff said that he did not recall another fire at a school in the three years he has been with the district.

Celeste Winders, a member of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees, learned of the fire when she received a Pulse Point alert on her phone.

She headed to the school to ensure that the campus and people there were safe and that she could communicate what was happening to other board members and incoming Superintendent Jeanette Rodriguez-Chien, through executive assistant Kyra Sherman.

When Winders arrived, crews had just extinguished the fire. Doug Weidemann, the district’s maintenance manager; Victor Martinez, who also works for the maintenance department; and Justina Montano, an academic specialist at Flowery also headed to the school to help as well.

“It appears the fire was contained to just that one portable,” Winders said. “Some smoke smell was in a neighboring classroom at the time, so perhaps there will be some work needed to remove that smell. Maintenance (staff) will know once it has time to air out. No other buildings have any damage, though. Sonoma Valley Fire did fantastic work, and they were very fast in their efforts to extinguish the fire.”

Braff praised everyone who showed up at the school to help.

“Thank you so much to the staff, trustees and community members that were on site almost immediately to ensure our school was safe and sound,” he said. “We are all glad that the damage was as limited as it was.”

Winders also commended all those who quickly arrived at the scene to help.

“This is the direct benefit of being in a small, tight-knit and caring community,” Winders said. “All of us there that day live near the school, and we were all able to be at Flowery within minutes of the fire alert.”

She said this reinforces the importance of people working as a community to establish affordable housing in Sonoma Valley.

“For many reasons, our local workforce needs to be able to live close to their workplace,” Winders said. “In education, we are a community and we become a close family that works for the children, who mean everything to us. Having our homes near the places where we work for children is critical. It helps us serve them better.”

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.