Abandoned Tacoma school goes up in flames for hours, now set to be demolished

TACOMA, Wash. — In Pierce County, an abandoned middle school was on fire for hours.

Flames erupted at the former Gault Middle School in Tacoma just after 4 a.m. and it has been burning ever since.

Firefighters said they can’t get inside the building to fight the fire but are continuing to fight the flames from outside.

Some neighbors said they’re glad to see the long-vacant building go up in smoke.

“I’ve been moving in for two weeks and I’ve seen many people entering that place,” said Sandro Meneses, in Spanish. “Young people and homeless people.”

Meneses said he saw it happen again at about midnight Tuesday night.

“There were four young men right there, smashing windows,” he said. “Then they broke into the building. They were young, school-aged.”

Meneses said he could still hear people in the school at 2 a.m. 

Within a couple of hours, Tacoma Fire was on its way.

“They had fire showing on the second floor,” said Tacoma Fire’s Assistant Chief Gil Barthé. “The fire was pretty well involved at that point and got into the attic space. And so, they are trying to extinguish the fire. Fought it defensively because of the conditions of the structure and advanced fire.”

Gault Middle School was once the crown jewel of this neighborhood. But it has sat empty since 2009 when Tacoma Public Schools closed it because of declining enrollment. Neighbors have complained ever since about the squatters and others vandalizing the building. 

Tacoma Fire itself has been to the building numerous times, but never for a fire as devastating as this.

“It’s a total loss,” said Larry Evans, who drove from Auburn to see the school his son once attended. “I heard they were going to tear it down anyway. So, this, I guess, makes it a lot easier for them.”

In fact, Tacoma schools recently announced just that. But they were awaiting approval from the state. They now say this fire will speed up that process.

Meanwhile, firefighters said they won’t know how the fire started until they can get into the building.

But they do believe it is human-caused.

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