School has resumed at Green Mountain Elementary in Bremerton following a Jan. 7 fire that cancelled classes for a week.

On the morning of Jan. 7, a small fire broke out at the school. A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system was found to be the cause. Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue stated that the fire was contained to one room and smoke was only present in part of the building, due to the sprinkler system that went off.

CKF&R responded to the scene at 7 a.m. and extinguished the fire before students arrived at the school. Central Kitsap School District canceled classes for the day.

The sprinkler system that prevented the fire from expanding left the school with water damage. SERVPRO of Kitsap County helped clean up damage from the fire along with CKF&R.

CKSD sent out a message to Green Mountain Elementary families due to classrooms having to relocate because of water damage. “Unfortunately, all classrooms in the Mountain Pod were impacted by the damage, and we need additional time to relocate those classrooms and prepare new learning spaces. Staff will be on site early next week to set up temporary classrooms and ensure the school is fully ready to reopen,” a Jan. 9 statement from CKSD said.

“Seven learning spaces and an office space need to be relocated within our building. As a result, our teachers and speech/language pathologist in the Mountain Pod have lost everything,” said interim principal Cyndi Garber.

Nine members of the staff were affected by the damage, all of whom are teachers. Damage was discovered to be more extensive than initially anticipated.

“As we move forward together, our priority remains the safety, well-being, and continuity of learning for our students. While this has been a challenging moment for our Green Mountain staff, it has also highlighted the resilience, care, and generosity that define who we are,” said Garber on Jan. 9.

Green Mountain PTA has created an online fire relief fund, with lists of items that teachers lost in the fire. Donations can be made to replace damaged items and to support CKSD.

“While we’re still assessing the full scope of repairs due to extensive smoke and water damage (from the sprinkler system), it is likely that significant repairs and cleaning will need to occur in all eight classrooms,” said CKSD communications specialist RandaLyn Novick. “This may include ceiling grid replacement, carpet replacement, wall repairs, painting, HVAC repairs, and deep cleaning.”

Classes resumed on Jan. 14 in temporary classrooms. There is currently no known timeline for when damaged classrooms will reopen.

“It was such a great moment to reopen our doors yesterday,” Garber said on Jan. 15. “Our students were clearly ready to be back, and you could feel their joy throughout the whole building. Our staff worked really hard alongside district staff to prepare temporary learning spaces with care, creativity, and a true focus on our students. It’s been powerful to see everyone come together for our staff and students, and we’re so grateful.”