(Image Credit: Mel Rothenburger)

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Instant community response to Parkcrest fire is inspiring

Sep 7, 2019 | 6:51 AM

LATE FRIDAY, THE GAWKERS were still showing up at Parkcrest Avenue wanting to get a look at the gutted remains of the elementary school destroyed by fire the night before.

Some tried lying their way past the barricades, telling security they lived on the street across from the school and needed to get home. It got so bad that authorities clamped down, allowing only nearby residents, credentialed media and, of course, police and emergency personnel access. Drivers licences were checked to confirm the addresses of genuine neighbours of the school.

We humans are hard-wired to be attracted to bad news. That’s why there are so many negative headlines and bad-news stories in the media. We slow down and stare at car wrecks as we drive by. When a hurricane approaches, instead of retreating we go down to the dock and watch the ocean churn. We set up lawn chairs near fires and reach for our phones to video them. It’s a dark form of entertainment.

Those in the neighbourhood or connected with the school obviously were drawn to the scene out of concern — I’m not talking about them.

Anyway, we shouldn’t be overly judgmental about curiosity and human nature, because there’s also a part of us that can’t stand to see others hurt. Seeing bad things makes us want to help. When a community is in need, everybody comes together.

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That’s what’s happening in the wake of the Parkcrest fire, even as authorities sift through what’s left and try to figure out how it started. Though there was, of course, early social media speculation about arson, that seems unlikely given the circumstances, though fire officials have given no hints.

One theory is that it started in the air conditioning system in the roof space, and was well underway by the time it was detected.

Though the cause is a matter of curiosity, more important right now is dealing with its aftermath. The City, TNRD, Kamloops Art Gallery and other agencies such as the SPCA and Boys and Girls Club have come together to provide activities for the kids who are without a place to go to school for at least a week. A GoFundMe page seeks to raise money for supplies lost by Parkcrest teachers.

“If we can all work together as a community and pull together as Canadians, we can get teachers back on their feet and ready to provide our kids with the best guidance and outlook for the future,” it says.

By last night, only a few hours after it was set up, the page had raised $17,000 of its $50,000 goal. People are kicking in anywhere from $20 to $100 and up, with at least one business pledging even more.

Some of the messages with the pledges — often from former students and former or current teachers — are long and gut-wrenching, some are brief but every bit as touching, like the one from the principal of another school that says simply, “I care.”

In the couple of days since the fire, it’s already become a bit of a cliché that a school is much more than a building — it’s a place for community and a place of memories.

It’s also a long-standing cliché that bricks and mortar are unimportant; it’s what goes on inside them that counts.

But without bricks and mortar, we can’t do all the important things that make a community. We’re born and often die in hospitals. We make laws in meeting places and enforce them in courthouses. We play and compete in gymnasiums and stadiums. We work in offices. And we learn in schools.

So when School District 73 superintendent Alison Sidow says, “We will rebuild,” it might sound like a familiar refrain after a tragedy but it’s a declaration that we won’t abandon our commitment to the importance of places of learning. Parkcrest will rise again.

It will cost around $20 million, possibly more. If I read correctly what Education Minister Rob Fleming said yesterday, the Province is “self-insured” for such things. In other words, the funding will come from tax dollars.

He has declared, though, that his government will clear the way for an expedited rebuilding of Parkcrest within a couple of years.

As the Kamloops school board searches out a template for recovery, it will consult with its counterparts in the South Okanagan, who went through the same thing in 2011 when South Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver burned down.

That happens to be the school from which I graduated. Its destruction by fire many years after I attended classes there was something I felt deeply. I have only the slightest insight into the feelings of those with current or recent connections to Parkcrest elementary. Their shared sense of loss spans generations, from adults who attended the school decades ago but still live in the area, to kids who were returning to school this week.

What’s truly inspiring is the lightning speed with which all parties have stepped up. From the school district’s crisis management to the provincial reassurance of funding to those setting up instant day-camps for the kids, I’ve never seen anything like it.

History is replete with disasters mishandled through ineptness and procrastination.

Parkcrest certainly won’t be one.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.