Fireworks found after roof fire at school

A fire on the roof of Ponderosa Elementary School caused about $50,000 in damage Wednesday morning, fire and school officials said.

Shortly after 5 a.m., a neighbor called 911 and reported that the school, 10105 E. Cimmaron Drive, was on fire, said Spokane Valley Fire spokesman Bill Clifford.

An engine from Spokane County Fire District No. 8 arrived and began to spray down the fire, joined shortly after by crews from Valley Fire, Clifford said.

Damage was confined mostly to a 30-square-foot area on the outside of the building, said Pat Crumpacker of Central Valley School District. Classrooms were not damaged, she said.

Firefighters found remnants of fireworks on the school grounds and on the roof, Clifford said. Witnesses told investigators they had seen kids lighting fireworks at the school and messing around on the roof before the fire, he said. The incident remains under investigation.

Had the fire been bigger, water pressure could have been an issue, fire officials said. Pressure dropped in nearby hydrants, and firefighters said they fought the fire with water from fire-engine tanks.

One of the booster pumps at a well that services the area lost power, presumably from lighting strikes the night before, said Ty Wick of Water District No. 3. The outage should not have caused the pressure to drop inside the school or at the hydrants on Cimmaron Drive, he said, although other nearby streets could have been affected.