The Bellwood-Antis wrestling and middle school boys locker rooms are back up and running nearly a year after a fire tore through the facilities.
On December 17, 2024 around 3 a.m., former Bellwood-Antis student, Elias Alley, started a fire in the Bellwood-Antis wrestling room, which connects to the B-A middle school locker room.
While local fire company’s arrived on scene quickly and put the fire out, the damage was already done. The wrestling room was completely destroyed, while smoke and water damage ruined the locker room and the middle school gymnasium.
Bellwood-Antis students did not return to school for the remainder of the week, having FID’s (Flexible Instruction Days) to start their Christmas break. Students came back in January, but the middle school gymnasium and locker room were closed to all students, staff, and athletic programs. Basketball games and practices were moved to the Myers Elementary gymnasium for the remainder of the school year.
It was a disaster that inconvenienced teachers and students alike.
“Immediately after we returned to school in January, most of the PE classes turned into study halls while the gym was being repaired. When the high school gym was available, we were able to take our classes there and have class as usual,” said middle school PE teacher Mr. Brent Hughes.
The fire, which was mostly contained to the wrestling room, caused severe smoke damage to the locker room, gymnasium, hallway, and boiler room.
A major complication was the smoke had a high rubber content, which eroded electrical circuits. Because of that, all lighting and electrical equipment needed to be fully replaced, stated Director of Facilities Mr. Thomas Kovac.
The fire was so hot that it ruined the structural integrity of the wrestling room roof, “requiring the roof to be entirely removed and replaced,” stated Mr. Kovac
The extent of the damage from the rubber-filled smoke spread to the boiler room and ruined the boilers. Mechanical engineers made the choice to replace all boilers, pump controls, building automation equipment and piping insulation. The locker rooms and hallways had to be scrubbed and repainted and all items replaced. The heating units, lighting, piping, and fire equipment all had to be replaced as well.
Toward the end of January, the middle school gymnasium was opened with a new floor and paint job, but the boys locker room was still closed, preventing male students from being able to change for gym class.
Now 10 months later, the middle school locker room is finally open, allowing students and staff to finally utilize the locker room for gym class, wrestling, and more.
Mr. Hughes, along with many other teachers, was shocked to hear the school had been ravaged by fire. He was especially shocked to hear the fire was located in the area of the school he worked in on a daily basis.
“No one ever expects to wake up and have their work or school cancelled because of a fire. Later, once I found out that it was my area of the building that was affected, I felt a lot of uncertainty,” said Mr. Hughes.
The last 10 months for the middle school gym teachers wasn’t easy. Mr. Hughes’s office and equipment suffered collateral damage from smoke and water due to the fire. All of his equipment was destroyed due to the fire. The high school allowed Mr. Hughes to use its equipment for his PE classes.
Once the middle school gym opened back up, Mr. Hughes still had no access to the locker room, which is also where his office is located.
“I had to work out of a temporary office until recently when the locker room reopened,” said Mr. Hughes.
Mr. Hughes’s office suffered smoke and water damage due to the fire. The smoke caused a layer of soot on all his items in his office, but luckily, nothing was destroyed.
The smell of smoke was overwhelming when he returned to get personal items.
“I found that my office was pretty much intact, but there was a lot of broken glass and smoke/water damage. Everything was covered in a thick layer of soot and the smell of smoke was pretty overwhelming,” said Mr. Hughes
Now, Mr. Hughes and his gym classes can return to the locker room to finally enjoy normal gym classes again. Everything in the locker room is fixed, including the wrestling room, just in time for the season to begin in November.
Mr. Hughes was especially happy that he can return back to his office and normal gym classes.
“It makes my job a lot easier to have these located close to the gym. I’m still in the process of moving everything back in, but its definitely nice to have a space of my own again,” Mr. Hughes said.
In 10 months, the contractors, and school staff have made very good progress fixing everything due to the fire. First, contractors and school staff had to check the structural integrity of the wrestling room roof to ensure its secure and stable. Afterwards they disconnected electrical lines, inspected and preformed emergency repairs, clean smoke covered hallways, then secured the building in order for students to return after Christmas break.
“We had to enter the cleanup and make-it-safe phase,” stated Mr. Kovac
After the “make-it-safe phase,,” the school district had to get permits to get up to code, then hire professional contractors to fix the roof of the wrestling room, boilers were replaced.
The estimated cost is not finalized, as the school district is working on several final projects, and final invoices have not been sent out.
“The costs are quite significant, but have been entirely covered by Insurance funding,” said Mr. Kovac
