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Both the Pleasanton Police Department and the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department have ceased investigations on what caused the damaging fire in the Amador Valley High School small gym, leaving residents with questions unanswered about what really led to that late-night blaze eight months ago.
Especially given the fact one of the custodians working that night on March 17 told first responders he not only cleaned the garbage bin located in the corner of the gym where the fire started, but he also noticed something off when first saw the smoke, according to an LPFD investigative report obtained by the Weekly this month.
“Mr. Garcia Norori (Custodian) states he had emptied the trash can located in that corner approximately two hours before he heard the fire alarm from the school ground,” reads the LPFD incident report, dated April 3. “When Mr. Garcia Norori investigated, he found smoke coming from the gymnasium and noted that one of the doors was opened slightly.”
The Weekly received a copy of the full report as part of an ongoing public records request for documents, emails and other materials involving Amador Valley principal Jonathan Fey, who went on an indefinite leave of absence just after the beginning of this school year without any explanation.Â
So far, the Pleasanton Unified School District has sent two batches of records — 51 pages total, none of which contained any information about the reason for Fey’s absence since Aug. 14 — with more responsive records reportedly to come next month.
The second batch of records, received on Nov. 18, includes the LPFD investigative report and other documents related to the fire that damaged Amador’s century-old small gym on a Sunday night in mid-March — one of the major events to occur at the campus during Fey’s tenure.
The report reveals that LPFD officially concluded the exact cause of the fire was “undetermined after investigation”.
On March 17, the LPFD responded to a commercial fire alarm at the small gym just before 8 p.m. Shortly after, it was elevated to a second alarm fire as firefighters worked to put out the fire in about 30 minutes with the help of the Alameda County Fire Department unit.
The incident report detailed when firefighters first arrived at the school and the entire process of putting it out, but one of the key pieces of information from the report was in the investigation portion.
That’s where LPFD noted down Norori’s statement about the garbage bin — a detail not previously shared to the public.
“The garbage can is completely melted and burned,” according to the LPFD incident report.
But the report also left a lot of factors undetermined.
“No obvious sources of ignition are noted,” the report states. “No obvious odors of accelerants noted. No sheen to the water noted due to class A foam covering the area.”
LPFD couldn’t find out the heat source, what item — if any — ignited the flames and any other factor related to the cause of the fire. It also stated that there were no human factors.
And even though the LPFD report stated that police “conducted interviews of school employees and gathered video surveillance footage”, PPD Lt. Nicholas Albert told the Weekly last week that no arrests have been made.
“I can tell you that the investigation is not active, and no individuals were ever arrested, charged, or cited regarding this fire,” Albert said.
When asked if the police department’s investigation found out anything about the cause of the fire, Albert pointed to LPFD’s investigation.
Patrick Gannon, director of communications for PUSD, told the Weekly after receiving the LPFD report, the district also conducted its own internal investigation.
“While our investigation did not yield substantive information as to the cause of the fire, PUSD’s insurance provider informed us that the damage was covered under our policy,” Gannon said.
The fire caused $150,000 in property loss, according to the LPFD incident report.
According to the minutes from a Board Facility Committee on May 15, the district was looking at an estimate to fix or replace the gym.
A separate Q&A document from the Sept. 26 Board of Trustees staff report states that the district’s insurance company was still investigating the incident and staff would meet with inspectors on Oct. 10.
“Funds recovered from insurance will be used to enhance the existing Measure I project to build a new performing arts and gymnasium for Amador Valley High School,” Gannon said.
Notably, Fey called out the city’s and state’s inspectors in a YouTube video posted on March 22 where he addressed many things such as details regarding the fire, why administrators decided to open school the day after and the issues with the inspectors that led to the school being without power for a couple of hours
Fey explained how a school’s power grid needed to be shut off and turned on in small portions, which wouldn’t have been a problem if the city and state inspectors had decided who had jurisdiction over the school.
“The back-and-forth between the two inspectors was completely unexpected and was the cause for the delay in getting the power turned back on,” Fey said in the video.Â
