About 7:15 am on the morning of February 1, 2007, the boiler used to heat Middleton High School in Canyon County exploded, starting a five-alarm fire that would eventually destroy 70% of the building and heavily inundate the remaining 30% with smoke damage. The tremendous blaze completely razed the older part of the school before spreading to a new wing. Ninety firefighters from twelve different agencies responded to the fire, coming from adjoining counties including Ontario, Oregon. No one was injured in the fire.
That older section of the school was built in 1964 and did not have a fire sprinkler suppression system installed.
While the community rallied around Middleton High School to offer make-shift classrooms and space for students until a new school was built to replace the one lost in the fire, fire safety awareness became front and center for school maintenance projects across the Gem State. In July 2008, the Idaho Lottery spotlighted this while hosting its annual dividend presentation at Nampa High School where they were installing a fire safety sprinkler system in their fine arts building that summer and using their annual Lottery disbursement to do so.
Since that fateful day in February 2007, countless schools and districts have utilized their Idaho Lottery dividend dollars to replace, install, upgrade, test, or improve their fire protection systems. During the summer of 2008, the town of Middleton opened a new High School campus that welcomes 2,000 students each year.
Today we are celebrating “Happy New Fire Sprinkler Head Day,” giving thanks to the systems to keep Idaho’s school safe for future generations to come. The Idaho Lottery is proud to support these projects, and all maintenance endeavors, to provide safer learning environments for all. Here is a list of locations this past year who made upgrades to their fire suppression systems:
- Basin School District
- Coeur d’Alene High School
- Falcon Ridge Charter School
- Garden Valley School District
- Richard McKenna Charter High School
- Rockland School District
- Soda Springs Joint School District
- Troy School District
- Vallivue School District
- Weiser School District
