Community Support Helps Woodlake Child Development Center Rebuild After Fire

Posted July 27, 2012 at 10:32 AM, Filed Under: Front Page, News

By LynDee Walker

Five weeks after a fire that caused substantial damage to the Woodlake Child Development Center’s preschool building, the center’s owner and manager are thankful — that the fire didn’t break out earlier or later, that the cleanup crews were onsite before the firefighters were even out of the building, and that the community has been so supportive of their efforts to remain open during the rebuilding.

“The fire was caused by an electrical malfunction in a bathroom fan,” Josh Hansen, director of the WCDC, said in mid-July. “The fire department said the fire probably started about 6:20 [on June 12], and we open at 6:30, so there was no one in the building when it happened.”

Josh said Chesterfield County firefighters told him the day of the fire that he was fortunate it didn’t have a chance to burn for long. “They said what most likely happened was that when our staff came in at 6:30 and opened the door, the oxygen was sucked straight down that hallway and into the fire, and at that point, it set off the fire alarms,” he said.

Josh’s mother, Vikki Hansen, who has owned the center for 26 years, said the damage was surprising, given that the flames weren’t bigger. “It was a smoldering fire, but it got so hot in there it melted the receptacles off the walls,” she said, showing photos of blackened, parched sheetrock and melted soap dispensers and outlets. “And the smoke and soot damage to the entire building was very extensive. We lost all of the toys and equipment in those three end rooms [the infant and toddler room, twos room, and a part-time preschool classroom]. We also lost 90 percent of our preschool library.”

Vikki said the big pieces of baby equipment were easily replaced at Walmart the same day the old ones were destroyed, but the books have been more difficult. “The way the insurance company does the depreciation on things like this, if I go to the store to buy a new board book, it’s ten dollars. But they only give us a dollar fifty for the one we lost in the fire. So it might take some time for us to get the library back, but we’ll get there.”

Josh said a quick call to the insurance company and speedy response by the local ServPro office helped salvage an otherwise dismal day. “ServPro was here before the firefighters even came out and cleared us to go inside,” he said. “They built a temporary wall at the end of the hallway to block off the rooms that sustained the most damage, and divided the building into phase one and phase two.”

Phase one, the majority of the preschool building, sustained some heavy smoke and soot damage, but the repairs were largely cosmetic thanks to the code that requires that child care centers use I-2 fire rating finishes, or double-sheet rocking, in rooms that are the primary place of care for children under 30 months old. The higher fire rating in the classrooms where the blaze was the strongest helped keep this fire contained.

“We’ve had to replace the kitchen cabinets because they cleaned them and cleaned them and cleaned them again, and they still smelled like smoke, so they finally marked them as ‘unsalvageable,’ ” Vikki said, walking through the refinished building that was scheduled to re-open last week. “This wall covering and this paint are all new, but we’re so glad to be able to move the little ones back over here so soon.”

Phase 2, the three classrooms on the end of the building where the fire was the worst, were very nearly a total loss. “They took everything down to the studs, and all of the insulation and HVAC ductwork out of there,” Josh said. “They had to clean the studs and the roof, but we were able to keep those.”

Josh said the contractors have been hard at work and hope to be finished with the building by Sept. 1. “We’ve been very blessed by the community and how helpful everyone has been,” he said. “We were able to get special variances from the county to have all of the children in the after school building until the preschool building is ready.”

“Which is a real blessing, given what we do here,” Vikki added. “Our parents can’t take six weeks off of work while we rebuild, and we’re very glad we’ve been able to continue to care for the children through this.”

Josh said parents and former students had been wonderful, offering space, donations, and toys in the wake of the fire. “And the kids have done really well with it,” Josh said. “They’ve adjusted well, and we’ve had weekly updates on the reconstruction going home to the parents. The children call the ServPro employees ‘Those guys in the green hats,’ and they’ve gotten used to seeing them, and used to being down here together, even with the close quarters. The little ones think the big kids are cool, and the big kids think the little ones are cute.”

Vikki said it was bittersweet, going through the classroom items that were lost in the fire. “Everything that was porous was permeated by the smoke and had to be thrown out,” she said. “And in this day and time, that’s most of the toys, because they’re all plastic. There were some things that they said were salvageable and could be cleaned, but the idea of the little ones, who put everything in their mouths, having things that had been in the fire in their toy bins was not acceptable to us.”

Josh added that personal items the children had brought to school were cleaned and sent home with cautionary notes. “The cleanup people said to wash and dry them three separate times, and if they didn’t smell like smoke, they could go home and be used,” he said. “But we told the parents that if it wasn’t a blanket that was made by someone special or had some other sentimental value, our recommendation was to just throw it out.”

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Anyone interested in donating age-appropriate books for the WCDC preschool library is welcome to do so by emailing Josh at jhansen@woodlakechild.com or Vikki at vhansen@woodlakechild.com.

“We have labels that we’re putting in the books people bring in so that we remember who donated them to us after the fire,” Vikki said. “The community response has been wonderful.”

Josh says he isn’t able to accept toys, but anyone who is interested in helping in other ways to raise money for the WCDC should contact either him or Vikki.

Woodlake Child Development Center
Open House & Grand Reopening

September 10-14
6:30 AM - 6:30 PM

Open to the public.
Please stop by to see our “new” school!