“I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of concern, prayer and support, especially from the Catholic school community,” said Father Dale Staysniak, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Parma, in the wake of a fire that caused more than $1 million damage to the parish school on Feb. 19. (See photo gallery above for pictures of the fire damage and the temporary location at St. Bridget School.)
The fire was ruled arson and is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal and the Parma Police Department. A cash reward is being offered for the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the fire, which was spotted about 10 a.m. by a maintenance worker who called 911. There had been a few reports of vandalism at the school in the weeks prior to the fire.
“Arson fires are few and far between in Parma,” said T.J. Martin, public information officer for the Parma Fire Department, and a parishioner at St. Albert the Great in North Royalton.
Fortunately, the building was empty when the blaze began, Father Staysniak said. St. Anthony School has 221 students in grades K-8 and 24 faculty and staff members. Classes were canceled for this week.
School and parish officials worked out a plan with St. Bridget of Kildare Parish in Parma to use its school, which closed last spring, until St. Anthony’s building can be repaired. Patrick Klimkewicz, St. Anthony principal, said they plan to have an open house for parents on March 3 and the target date to resume classes in the new location is March 4. School officials are hoping the St. Anthony building can be repaired in time for the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year in August. School officials are working with the insurance company to coordinate repairs, which already are underway.
“By the grace of God, we were able to help,” said Father Rob Wisniewski, St. Bridget pastor. “Our parish community is very happy we can help.” After St. Bridget School closed, Father Wisniewski said maintenance crews spent the summer cleaning the entire school top to bottom, “so it’s move-in ready. We cleaned the carpets, desks, lockers and scrubbed everything,” he added. St. Anthony faculty and staff met at the building on Feb. 22 to discuss logistics and classroom assignments.
Officials believe the fire started in a basement closet and likely smoldered for some time before erupting, Martin said. Firefighters were able to knock down the flames quickly, but not before they did extensive damage to the basement, classrooms – mostly junior high rooms – and offices above the fire. Sturdy steel beams were used in the cinder block and brick structure, with corrugated metal on top. Martin said as the beams heated from the fire, they began to warp. When flames heated the corrugated metal panels, they acted as conductors and helped spread the fire across the first floor.
“We had to chase fires as flames came up through the floor,” he said.
Klimkewicz and Father Staysniak praised the firefighters from Parma and nearby communities who got the blaze under control quickly.
The school, which is about 60 years old, “Is built like Fort Knox, which helped contain the fire damage,” Klimkewicz said. But looks can be deceiving. He learned more about the extensive amount of damage on Feb. 23. Fire officials estimated about 60% of the building was affected by the blaze.
“Even though parts of the building may look fine, we are losing a staggering amount of things,” Klimkewicz said. “Smoke and soot permeated every room.” As a result, books, papers and other items are smoke damaged and cannot be salvaged. Junior high school students took their Chromebooks home for the long holiday weekend – school was closed Feb. 18 and again Feb. 21 for Presidents Day. However, other students’ devices were in the building, so they were sent for cleaning, deodorizing and inspection. Klimkewicz said they should be back next week.
In the meantime, staff from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland education office worked with Klimkewicz to coordinate what is needed to resume classes. Sue Biggs, assistant superintendent, said a Google Doc was prepared and the link shared with all 108 schools across the diocese.
“Everyone has been phenomenal. People really want to help,” she said, but they also want to ensure that St. Anthony faculty, staff and students get the most-needed items.
Biggs said a list of key items was created and schools throughout the diocese were invited to sign up for what they could donate. Items range from sets of pens/pencils, erasers, markers, crayons, paper scissors, glue, rulers, folders and binders to bulletin board paper, borders, classroom decorations, stickers, sticky notes, sentence strips, number lines, clip boards, desk and classroom organizers and gift cards for Amazon, Walmart and Target to enable teachers to purchase specific items.
“We also wanted to provide lunch for the faculty and staff for the first two weeks after classes resume,” Biggs said. In less than 24 hours, the sheet was filled with donations and schools offering to provide lunches. Diocesan staff will be at the St. Bridget building to coordinate drop-offs of donations from the schools, Biggs said, thus allowing St. Anthony teachers to focus on preparing their new classrooms.
The Parma Fire Department is partnering with University Hospitals Parma Medical Center for a “Stuff the Squad” event 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Ash Wednesday, March 2, at the hospital, 7007 Powers Blvd., Parma. Martin said they are coordinating with the diocese to collect hospital-related items the school needs like face masks, antibacterial wipes and cleaning supplies, including buckets, mops, brooms and vacuums. An emergency squad will be parked at the hospital and stuffed with donations, which will be dropped off at St. Anthony’s temporary location at St. Bridget School.
In addition, the Parma Heights Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library will accept donations of school supplies 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb 26. The library is at 6206 Greenbrier Road, Parma Heights.
“Parma is a very generous and giving community,” Martin said.
Aside from the physical damage, Klimkewicz said they also are reaching out to families to ensure support services are available for anyone who needs them. Some students reportedly were upset by the damage done to their school and their forced relocation.
“School is a safe place for kids and something like this can damage their psyche. We don’t want them to be harmed,” Martin said.
“The support of the community is what is getting us through this. We’ll be OK. At the end of the day, this is just stuff. No one was hurt and we can rebuild,” Klimkewicz said.
“Few things generate emotion for me, but this outpouring of support is unbelievable. I’m at a loss for words. It’s hard to grasp; it left me speechless,” he added.
Martin said firefighters also are thankful for the expressions of gratitude from the community for their help in controlling the fire. He noted one third-grader from St. Anthony stopped by with her family, bringing a note and a generous supply of donuts for the firefighters. “It was unbelievably thoughtful,” he said.
St. Anthony Parish and School share a campus on State Road with Padua Franciscan High School.
Anyone with information about those responsible for the fire should contact the State Fire Marshal tip line at 800-589-2728, Parma Police Detective Marc Karkan at 440-887-7323 or the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 216-252-7463.