Fireworks damage Keota Elementary School, officials say

KEOTA - Fire officials say a smoldering firework shot off over the Fourth of July weekend has left Keota Elementary School with a 15-by-20-foot hole in its gymnasium roof and smoke damage throughout the building.

Sigourney Fire Chief Bill Halleran said a Keota resident walking by the school at around 6:30 a.m. Monday noticed smoke coming from atop the gymnasium.

Firefighters from the Sigourney and Keota departments responded and were able to extinguish the fire within 10 minutes, Halleran said. No injuries were reported, but the rubber roof melted, creating the hole.

Halleran said there is significant smoke damage throughout the building, water damage to the gymnasium floor, possible damage to gymnasium light fixtures and extensive roof damage due to the fire burning down to the metal decking.

Halleran said fire officials found fireworks remnants on the damaged roof and have concluded that to be the cause of the fire. The chief, who also serves as vice president of the Iowa Firefighters Association, said this is exactly why he's been fighting to keep consumer fireworks illegal in Iowa.

'This kind of proves our point,” Halleran said. 'It's going to get worse. These calls are going to go up.”

By late Tuesday afternoon, the smell of smoke was still evident inside the gym, which district officials said is used by both elementary and junior high school students. Dehumidifiers and fans had been set up around the area, some of the gym floor boards were beginning to warp and pieces of insulation lay crumbled on top of the roof where two construction workers patched the hole with more insulation a new layer of black rubber sheeting.

Chris Dietrich from DRC Inc., who was helping to patch the roof, said the firework must have been exceptionally hot in order to damage the roof.

'I know this rubber can take some heat,” he said. 'It's probably 140 degrees today.”

Dennis Phelps, superintendent of Keota Community Schools, said insurance workers inspected the roof Tuesday, but he did not yet have a damage estimate.

'It left a pretty good gaping hole,” Phelps said of the fire. 'Right now, the gym's not used. The problem is how long this process is going to take? With construction, you just never know.

'It's going to cost a good penny.”

Phelps said if the roof needs to be fully replaced, construction may go into the beginning of the school year.

He said he hopes the person who launched the firework doesn't make the same mistake again.

'Obviously, there's a place for them,” Phelps said. 'In and around school areas are not one of those. Leave the shooting fireworks off for the professionals. This is going to be an expensive thing and if someone hadn't caught it early, we would have had a heck of a problem.”