Public School Number 4 Is On Fire

[tufsu1]

I am going to go out on a limb and say this...

I truly believe this is an act of arson as someone was trying to attempt to bring the school down for financial gain indirectly.

This is too good to be "accidental" or "act of God" fire incident.

Too damn good.

-Josh

this kind of thing happens with old "abandoned" buildings pretty regularly...sometimes it is intentional....but these fires can also be started by squatters accidentally, especially on cold winter nights.

[KenFSU]

I am going to go out on a limb and say this...

I truly believe this is an act of arson as someone was trying to attempt to bring the school down for financial gain indirectly.

This is too good to be "accidental" or "act of God" fire incident.

Too damn good.

-Josh

this kind of thing happens with old "abandoned" buildings pretty regularly...sometimes it is intentional....but these fires can also be started by squatters accidentally, especially on cold winter nights.

Yeah, I would think this would be the more logical guess right now.

With a contentious building like PS4, I don't know, it seems like it would be far too obvious to intentionally torch it.

A really, really sad story though :/

[Jumpinjack]

It is too coincidental that a fire was just set a week or two ago, some juveniles were arrested, and now this fire.

We walked over and looked at the place and the auditorium roof has been burned along with the debris that had accumulated there. The rest of the building is still standing firm. 

[Dog Walker]

Don't despair, folks.  I've just returned from looking at the damage and it is not as bad as it appears in the pictures.

What burned was the wooden roof structure over the auditorium closest to the stage.  The middle portion of the roof has been gone for years from a leak.  The part of the roof closest to the main building has fallen  in the past month or so.  The part closest to the stage is what was burned.  The entire auditorium is now roofless.

There does not appear to be any structural damage to the walls of the auditorium and no part of the main building was touched by the fire at all.  The roof over the main building is concrete in any case.  When the school was built in 1917 there were no sprinkler systems available so when the built a "fireproof" building they meant it.

We all knew that the roof over the auditorium was going to go one way or the other.

I am sure that if the fire had burned for a longer time it would have deteriorated the mortar holding  the bricks together, but to my untrained eye, it looks like JFRD got it out before that happened.  Thanks, guys!

Of course this fire was deliberately set.  No homeless person trying to stay warm was going to go up to the roof to light a fire.  There is plenty of flammable material on the floor from the fallen portion of the roof.

[Timkin]

Well.... If we were lucky, perhaps at least the main building could be spared.  But I am not too optimistic .

[Bativac]

Don't despair, folks.  I've just returned from looking at the damage and it is not as bad as it appears in the pictures.

What burned was the wooden roof structure over the auditorium closest to the stage.  The middle portion of the roof has been gone for years from a leak.  The part of the roof closest to the main building has fallen  in the past month or so.  The part closest to the stage is what was burned.  The entire auditorium is now roofless.

I think demolitions in Jacksonville over the years have proven that the damage doesn't need to be as bad as it looks. If someone wants to tear it down, any cause can be given as justification. I think we have all seen buildings that looked to be in much better shape than this face the proverbial wrecking ball. That, plus the district fire chief's quote:

"Firefighters were dispatched to the fire at 11:20 p.m. Sunday and arrived to find heavy smoke and fire showing through the roof, according to District Chief Jack Griggs of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.

"It's about 90 percent damaged," Griggs said."

[grimss]

Reposting from FB, reporter Ryan Paul:  I am a reporter with Action News. Would love to hear your thoughts on this tragic fire. Anyone interested in sharing some memories, history, pics call me at 904-759-2798. Thanks!

[Dog Walker]

90% of the roof, maybe, but not 90% of the building.  The building is in no worse shape now than it was before the roof burned.

Dan Scanlan of the FTU was there taking pictures when we were there.  Mr. Paul should do his own leg work.

[Timkin]

I am going to go out on a limb and say this...

I truly believe this is an act of arson as someone was trying to attempt to bring the school down for financial gain indirectly.

This is too good to be "accidental" or "act of God" fire incident.

Too damn good.

-Josh

this kind of thing happens with old "abandoned" buildings pretty regularly...sometimes it is intentional....but these fires can also be started by squatters accidentally, especially on cold winter nights.

Yeah, I would think this would be the more logical guess right now.

With a contentious building like PS4, I don't know, it seems like it would be far too obvious to intentionally torch it.

A really, really sad story though :/

second fire there in 2 weeks.  Ummmmm.. This is about as deliberate as it gets.  If you think otherwise , you are kidding yourself.   The owners of the property and the building want it GONE.  That is so obvious.

[Springfielder]

Reposting from FB, reporter Ryan Paul:  I am a reporter with Action News. Would love to hear your thoughts on this tragic fire. Anyone interested in sharing some memories, history, pics call me at 904-759-2798. Thanks!

I don't have time to chat on the phone, but if this reporter wants stories, many of us could post them

[iloveionia]

The Jewish Center was filled to the brim with water. Another intentionally set fire. Is this not the case with the school? I love this school.

[Ernest Street]

If the fire source was up above the stage...it was arson. On another forum(rip) we had a kid posting pics looking down from there so there was access.

I can just imagine how cold that 2' thick brick work gets...probably warmer out on the front lawn.
I am still astounded at the lengths that tresspassers went to to gain access.  sledgehammers were used several times.

Sorry Tim...this is a low blow to you.

[Nightman_Cometh]

I am going to go out on a limb and say this...

I truly believe this is an act of arson as someone was trying to attempt to bring the school down for financial gain indirectly.

This is too good to be "accidental" or "act of God" fire incident.

Too damn good.

-Josh

this kind of thing happens with old "abandoned" buildings pretty regularly...sometimes it is intentional....but these fires can also be started by squatters accidentally, especially on cold winter nights.

Yeah, I would think this would be the more logical guess right now.

With a contentious building like PS4, I don't know, it seems like it would be far too obvious to intentionally torch it.

A really, really sad story though :/

second fire there in 2 weeks.  Ummmmm.. This is about as deliberate as it gets.  If you think otherwise , you are kidding yourself.   The owners of the property and the building want it GONE.  That is so obvious.

My guess is that it is deliberate, but.....The past few weeks we have seen temperatures on a roller coast, up down up down, so bums and squatters could have accidently torched the place as well.

Never the less, this is sad.  I have (illegally) been inside numerous times over the years, but its been 5 years since I last went inside.  Such a beautiful structure, reminds a lot of the old schools up north.

[KenFSU]

Considering the fact that the full extent of the damage isn't yet known, it's really frustrating to read and hear the story being discussed by the local media as a "death blow" to the structure, as if the fire will now inevitably lead to the demolition of the structure.

[JHAT76]

I apologize for my ignorance, but was there ever a chance for a developer to turn this into something.  Seems like 40 yrs would have been enough time for a development of some sort to get off the ground.  Would be hard to sell condos right next to the interstate.

Have there been proposals?  Does the current owner just refuse to sell to people who would make it into something?  Would any new development require government (city) money?