The original building was open in September of 1979. It was 59,412 square feet and cost $1,943,960.64. It was destroyed by fire on March 4, 1995. The new building opened in February 1996. The square footage was the same, but it cost $5,500,000.00 to build. Almost a $3.5 million dollar increase.

School Information

Response to the Oquirrh Elementary Fire

Oquirrh Elementary School was destroyed by fire on Saturday, March 4, 1995. As the school burned, an Administrative Response Team was organized and planning began at once for housing the displaced students and staff. This rapid response to the emergency proved invaluable.

The Public Information Department was immediately assigned to provide an information link between the school district and the news media and to release news bulletins as often as necessary to keep the community apprised of developments. The superintendent and assistants worked the remainder of the day and much of the evening outlining the events that would take place in the next three days.

The Administrative Response Team met early Sunday morning, March 5, 1995 to draft a proposal for housing the Oquirrh Students. Several options were considered. One option was to divide and disburse the Oquirrh students to neighboring schools, recognizing that the influx of Oquirrh students would force some schools to year-round programs or even double sessions. Another option was to keep the Oquirrh student body intact and select a neighboring school to double session with Oquirrh. Under this plan, one school would use the building in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Some consideration was given to erecting a temporary modular school on the Oquirrh campus and also to the possibility of leasing space for the Oquirrh school somewhere in the community.

The possibilities were presented to the Jordan Board of Education during an emergency meeting at 3:00 P.M., March 5th. A standing room only crowd attended. A straw poll showed that Oquirrh parents wanted their students to stay together as a group. Later that evening, the Oquirrh School Community Group met to give parents a chance to respond to the proposals. During the meeting, a patron suggested placing Oquirrh students at the Utah National Guard Armory in West Jordan. Immediately following the meeting, an investigation began to determine the feasibility of this suggestion.

By mid-day on Monday, it had been determined that the National guard facility could house about half of the Oquirrh students, and Elk Ridge Middle School, a new school in the South Jordan area, could house the remaining Oquirrh students. The National Guard officers and Governor Leavitt agreed to allow grades K through 3 to use the Armory's classroom area, and the Elk Ridge Middle School principal and staff agreed to make the changes necessary to free space for Oquirrh's grades 4, 5, and 6.

The Emergency Response Team presented a 7-point plan at a special Board of Education meeting held Monday afternoon, March 6. The plan included:

1. Rebuilding Oquirrh Elementary on the existing campus.

2. Declaring an emergency to bypass normal bidding procedures and expedite purchasing and construction.

3. Begin busing Oquirrh students in grades K-3 to the National Guard Armory where 15 classrooms would be ready to receive them.

4. Begin busing Oquirrh students in grades 4-6 to Elk Ridge Middle School where they would have their own "school within a school."

5. Obtain student furniture for shipment to the National Guard Armory. (The original plan was to order new furniture which would later be transferred to the rebuilt Oquirrh school; however, sufficient surplus furniture was located to meet the immediate need.)

6. Order new textbooks and supplies for the students immediately. (The school was able to function initially with donated and surplus books and materials.)

7. Continue to negotiate to see if a temporary modular school could be erected on the Oquirrh campus and thereby avoid the busing costs. (This proved to be unfeasible because of the set-up and equipment costs. There was also some concern that placing a temporary school on the same campus where cleanup and reconstruction was proceeding would pose safety hazards and not leave the children any outdoor playing areas.)

The plan was met with a standing ovation by the overflow crowd in attendance.

Oquirrh students resumed school on Wednesday, March 8. In the intervening hours, the National Guard Armory was prepared to receive the students. Classrooms were set up, portable toilets placed on the grounds, additional lights and carpet installed, playing fields marked off, and other changes made to equip the facility as a school. A parent volunteer program was organized to help youngsters with the outdoor restroom facilities, etc.

At Elk Ridge, middle school teachers and students moved out of the wing that would be assigned to Oquirrh. Signs were put up to help the Oquirrh students know where to go. The Oquirrh teachers set up their classrooms using the Elk Ridge furniture on site. The return to school on Wednesday morning was covered by all newspapers and television stations in the local area. Some coverage was also received from the Associated Press and others. A general spirit of celebration prevailed.

Arranging bus service for 1,000 students who had all previously walked to school was an enormous challenge. The cost of leasing the number of buses that would be needed was prohibitive; therefore, Oquirrh's school hours were adjusted so that the bus runs for Oquirrh students could be handled by the existing District buses and drivers. By Wednesday, the Transportation Department had established appropriate bus stops throughout the Oquirrh neighborhood. Parent volunteers prepared identification signs for each bus and agreed to monitor the bus stops to assure that the Oquirrh students safely boarded the correct buses. In the coming days, all of the Oquirrh students received training on riding procedures and bus rules of conduct.

The Jordan Education Foundation acted as a clearing house for the donations received following the loss of Oquirrh. Nearly $68,000 was contributed in cash and in-kind donations.

The West Jordan Fire Department and Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco Commission (AFT) assumed jurisdiction over the fire site. Only authorize personnel were allowed access to the building. Jordan District was not able to recover anything from the building without permission from these agencies. Security guards were required 24 hours a day, and a perimeter fence was immediately erected to secure the grounds and prevent looting.

Clean-up and recovery began as soon as AFT gave the District clearance. A commercial disaster cleaning service was hired to restore salvageable items. Although the school's permanent records were in metal file cabinets, the documents were fragile from exposure to intense heat. Hours were spent copying brittle documents before they disintegrated. Many of the books and supplies were either utterly destroyed in the fire or could not be salvaged because of smoke damage. Purchase orders from years past were used to help identify those items to be reordered and clamed on insurance.

Although the fire destroyed most of the school's furniture and equipment, every item valued at $100 or more was included in the Fixed Assets Inventory. With this list, the District was able to identify the items that were destroyed and file insurance claims for the replacement. Teacher' materials were not so easily identified. In an effort to help teachers replace their teaching materials, an "Adopt-a-Teacher" program was established. Teachers in other schools agreed to help Oquirrh teachers replace their lesson plans, etc. The District Instructional Media Center expanded its hours to facilitate this work.

The Jordan District Crisis Team, which includes psychologists, counselors, etc, was sent to help the Oquirrh students and staff cope with the trauma caused by the tragedy. These services continued throughout the year as necessary.

The staff time required to cope with the Oquirrh disaster placed a burden on many departments, particularly Transportation and Maintenance. It was necessary to set up a system to track overtime for reimbursement by the insurance carrier. Accounting procedures for tracking all expenses related to the fire were also instituted. A District fund was established to up front immediate expenses until money was released from the reinsurance company.

Oquirrh was an open area school equipped with heat detectors but not with an automatic fire suppression system (sprinklers). The interior firewall successfully protected the cafeteria area and kindergarten classrooms from the fire, and areas with fire retardant carpeting held up well.

Because a faulty ballast in a security light was found to be the most likely cause of the fire, in-line fuses have since been installed to interrupt power and protect the ballast from over heating. Code upgrades are also proceeding in all schools as rapidly as funding will permit.

A beautiful new school has been reconstructed on the Oquirrh campus at a cost of about $5.5 million. The new building has more classrooms than the original, and all of the classrooms are self-contained. The exterior brick matches the areas of the original building that were saved in the fire, but an exciting maroon and green color scheme in the trim gives the school a distinctly different, modern look. Covered entrance ways add shape and design to the new building as well as provide cover from rain and weather. The reconstructed school meets all safety codes.

The move back to the Oquirrh campus began early in February, 1996. The grades moved into the new building one at a time. A comfortable, slow-paced schedule assured that the students and staff did not have to repeat the trauma that accompanied the relocation after the fire.

On March 4, 1996, exactly one year from the date fire destroyed Oquirrh Elementary, members of the Utah National Guard conducted a flag raising ceremony to commemorate the school's reconstruction. The school's new flag was unfurled at 3:00 P.M., the approximate hour that the fire alarm sounded a year ago. Shortly thereafter, Oquirrh students released a thousand helium-filled balloons into the sky in celebration.