VENTURA : Blaze at Closed School Causes $30,000 Damage
Ventura firefighters battled an electrical fire Thursday afternoon in the auditorium of the old Washington Elementary School.
Antiquated wiring in the building triggered the fire in the school at MacMillan Avenue near downtown Ventura, investigators said. The blaze caused about $30,000 worth of damage.
The boarded-up school building has not been used since the school was closed in 1982, said Joseph Richards, assistant superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District.
“It’s an old building that is not earthquake-proof and is on unstable soil,” Richards said. “It will never be used as a school again.”
The Ventura Unified School Board recently declared the school surplus property and began hunting for buyers.
The building has been a periodic victim of vandalism, but Thursday’s fire was sparked by a short circuit under the auditorium’s stage, city fire officials said.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
