Late in the evening of Sept. 17, the school's library was destroyed in a fire that caused what the school's principal said was an estimated $750,000 in damage. Counselor's offices, custodial and storage rooms also were damaged. The State Fire Marshal's Office is continuing to investigate the "suspicious" fire.
The loss is being felt all around Northern New Mexico, including in Los Alamos, where Laboratory employees and subcontract personnel, through the efforts of the Community Relations Office, Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico, Los Alamos' Business Operations Division and other organizations, have joined together to collect books and donations to help begin the rebuilding process.
A move is underway to relocate at least two transportable buildings to the school in northern Rio Arriba County for temporary use.
A Dixon Elementary book fund drive was set up last week during the 1999 Laboratory/Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico United Way kickoff. Some 25 boxes of books and nearly $1,000 in cash and checks have poured into the fund, said Tonya Suazo of Los Alamos' Community Relations Office.
Books or financial donations can still be made by calling Suazo at 667-5774.
"People have brought in sets of encyclopedias, for children and adults," said Suazo. "It has just been amazing to me how Laboratory employees have come together to help Dixon Elementary School rebuild its library."
The fire destroyed 4,096 library books, numerous text books, 42 reference books, 295 dictionaries, 292 charts, maps, globes, teaching aids, 15 IBM computers, two overhead projectors and two screens.
Computer software, four computer desks in the computer lab, about five teacher's desks and student desks also were damaged or destroyed in the fire.
Insurance should cover the replacement of some of these items. But the school will need some assistance installing new computers and in setting up its electronic card cataloging system in its library.
Dixon Elementary School principal and second grade teacher Gene Martinez said students are adjusting well to the loss. "They're doing all right," he said. "The older kids have asked me about it. The fire was almost adjacent to my classroom," he said.
Martinez met recently with Floyd Archuleta of the Laboratory's Community Relations Office; Archuleta wanted to find out how Los Alamos could help the school. "I was surprised because I didn't know of any such program [at the Laboratory]," said Martinez. "I was appreciative that people came down to my office to meet with us. It's a good gesture on the Lab's part. We're really thankful to all the people in your organizations," he said.
"I did not realize there was that much damage . . . the building, in my opinion, was completely lost," said Los Alamos' Archuleta.
Archuleta said Mike Shepherd of Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico is working with the Lab to locate transportable buildings that can be moved to the school, which needs temporary storage space.
"This is what the Laboratory is all about in terms of wanting to be a good neighbor to the communities," said Archuleta. "This is the way we've been brought up in Northern New Mexico, to be there for our neighbors when they need help."
The fire forced cancellation of classes for a week for the 73-student kindergarten through sixth-grade school, which was built in the 1930s and has had subsequent additions. Students will have to make up the lost school days to comply with state law that requires students receive 180 days of classroom instruction.
Archuleta added that the Laboratory also will provide whatever technical assistance it can to assist the school.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.