WCPSS Schools Provide Shelter for Apex Fire Evacuees

Five Wake County Public School System schools were closed Friday, October 6 after an Apex fire involving hazardous materials led to orders for some residents to evacuate. Three other schools were closed October 6 because they were used as emergency shelters.

Baucom Elementary, Apex Elementary, Apex Middle, Lufkin Road Middle and Apex High were closed because of the evacuation. Olive Chapel Elementary, Turner Creek Road Elementary and Green Hope High were closed for use as evacuation shelters.

Don Haydon, WCPSS Chief Facilities and Operations Officer, says the Wake County Environmental Services Director indicated that although no extraordinary clean-up was necessary at the schools, WCPSS staff wanted to ensure that the schools were safe for students and staff. As a result, shelter schools were cleaned by custodial teams; air filters were replaced by WCPSS Maintenance & Operations; WCPSS Child Nutrition Services staff washed kitchen and serving equipment and tables; and seats of buses parked in the evacuation area were wiped down.

Haydon said an environmental consultant, under the guidance of our Environmental Health & Safety Department, took wipe samples in schools; none showed contamination.

After the fire broke out Thursday night, first Olive Chapel and then Turner Creek elementary schools were opened by the Wake County Emergency Operations Center as shelters for the people who were being evacuated from Apex.

Melissa Burns, principal of Olive Chapel Elementary, worked with emergency officials and the American Red Cross to open her school as a shelter after 11 p.m., Thursday night.

"It was a remarkable experience of cooperation and teamwork," said Burns. "Among the Olive Chapel staff, WCPSS security, local authorities, American Red Cross and local churches and businesses, the evacuation went very calmly and smoothly."

Olive Chapel staff assisted in numerous ways - preparing breakfast and lunch, distributing water and snacks, ensuring everyone had blankets who needed them, translating to non-English speakers, taking messages to get to friends or loved ones, helping to secure the building and to meet the needs of everyone the best way possible.

Burns praised Olive Chapel's Child Nutrition Services manager Melissa Guy and her staff, as well as Olive Chapel custodian Ruth Hall for their non-stop efforts preparing food, cleaning, and checking on everyone.

Other helpful staff members included WCPSS security Kendrick Scott, WCPSS maintenance staff including supervisors John Ballard and Gregg Alston, school secretary Maxine Woloschin, WCPSS school nurses Lynn Townsend and Mary Morris, teachers Kathy Evans and Jackie Forte, teacher assistants Michelle D'Antonoli and Sonia Ruiz, and parent volunteer Debi Coleman. Many other staff members even hosted families who had to evacuate their homes.

Olive Chapel provided shelter for more than 300 people through the early hours of the emergency response.

Several hours after Olive Chapel opened, Emergency Operations called on Turner Creek Elementary to serve as an emergency shelter. Principal Jan Hargrove arrived at the school around 1 a.m.

Hargrove praised Turner Creek Child Nutrition Services manager Vonda Gilliam and Joy Brumbelow of her staff, teacher Kate Boone and teacher assistants Joe Briscoe and Carolyn Jones for their hard work in providing food and keeping people comfortable.

"We pulled the rocking chairs into the music room so that parents of young children would have a place to comfort their children," said Hargrove. "We used mats from our multi purpose rooms for the children to go to sleep."

At Turner Creek, there were eggs, toast, bagels and donuts for breakfast. People were served baked chicken, mashed potatoes and salad for lunch. Shortly after lunch, people had cleared out of the school - going to stay with friends, in hotels or moving to Green Hope High.

Hargrove said a number of people provided help through the evening:

Former Teacher Assistant Kathy Hazel helped man the office phones and called staff to activate a phone tree to tell them there was no school on Friday. Colleen Ryan, a teacher from Green Hope Elementary who was ousted from her bed to evacuate, also answered phones and made coffee for the evacuees.

John Ballard - WCPSS Area Facility Manager - was at the school when Hargrove arrived. Ballard was helpful in doing whatever was needed.

Kate and Joe and Carolyn - Turner Creek staff - put up signs for bathrooms, got out the tumbling mats so folks could sleep on them, moved chairs from the music room to provide a family sleeping room.

A Turner Creek parent who serves as a Girl Scout leader brought two bags of blankets. The Girl Scout troop had been collecting them for a project. They were clean and warm and greatly appreciated!

Another Turner Creek parent was at the school when Hargrove arrived - providing information to new arrivals. She told them where to find restrooms, answered questions and was wonderful. She had heard the story on the news - was in a neighborhood close by - and came over wanting to help!

Once the elementary schools closed as shelters Friday around noon, Green Hope High School opened as an emergency shelter. It provided a place for evacuees to stay Friday night until Apex officials allowed residents to return home on Saturday.

Green Hope principal Jim Hedrick said faculty and staff worked with the Red Cross to set up cots and to get the facility ready to house the evacuees. Many Green Hope students and their parents came back to school to provide help. He said the Green Hope community came through with donations of food and basic commodities.

A number of WCPSS administrators worked through the night. Superintendent Del Burns arrived in the office at 3 a.m. and stayed there through the morning. Russ Smith, WCPSS Senior Director for Security, was at the Incident Command Post in Apex and coordinated with the county to set up security at all shelters to ensure the safety of all evacuees. Michael Evans, WCPSS Chief Communications Officer, worked with news media through the night to keep them updated on the status of schools in the Apex area. Evans talked with reporters and worked with WCPSS Webmaster Paul Cory to make the latest information available on wcpss.net Mike Burriss, WCPSS Assistant Superintendent for Facilities and William Sudderth of WCPSS Communications worked in the Wake County Emergency Operations Center through the night and morning.

The Apex fire required WCPSS staff to put in long hours sharing information and providing shelter to those in need. They did a great job.

Posted by Bill Poston at 06:33 PM on October 09, 2006 | Leave Feedback

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