Landmark destroyed by fire; cause unknown

December 7, 2006

By BEN GARRETT
Independent Herald Editor

BUFFALO — A community landmark here was destroyed by fire early Thursday afternoon.

Officials are not sure how the fire began, but the old Buffalo School building, located on Smith Creek Road approximately one-fourth mile past its intersection with Buffalo Road, was completely destroyed by a blaze that began sometime shortly before 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

The fire was reported at around 1:32 p.m., when Tennessee Department of Transportation Supervisor Marvin Miller notified the Scott County Sheriff’s Department that “the old Buffalo School is burning down.”

Once the fire began, it apparently quickly consumed the building. Miller said that he noticed smoke coming from the rear of the structure while driving by on Buffalo Road. He had first driven by the building only minutes earlier, he said, and did not observe any sign of a fire.

Within minutes after the fire was reported, flames had engulfed the structure and billowing black smoke was visible for miles up the Buffalo valley along Buffalo Road.

Sheriff’s Department dispatchers initially paged Paint Rock Volunteer Fire Department to the blaze. After getting no response, Huntsville Fire Department was dispatched.

The first unit from HFD, including Huntsville Fire Chief Dean King and Assistant Chief Chesty Strunk, arrived on the scene just 24 minutes after the blaze was initially reported, but little could be done to salvage the structure, which was basically destroyed by the time firefighters arrived on the scene.

Another unit from HFD arrived within minutes of King and Strunk, and mutual aid was later provided by Pine Hill Volunteer Fire Department, which sent a pumper truck to the scene. Chief Deputy Bobby Ellis of the Sheriff’s Department also responded.

King said that while his department would conduct its regular investigation, there was nothing at the scene of the fire that would indicate arson as the culprit.

The block building was originally used as an elementary school in the Buffalo community. Though historical records showing when the school was constructed were not immediately available, it was one of 67 schools in service in Scott County in 1945, according to a thesis written by former Huntsville School Principal Oswell Sexton while Sexton was seeking his Masters Degree from the University of Tennessee.

The building was also not the first to house classes in the Buffalo community. A frame building, since destroyed, housed elementary classes, and there were high school courses taught in Buffalo for a short time in the early 1900s. In 1909, a new state law loosened requirements for high schools, allowing seven high schools to pop up around the county. Shortly after they began, three of those secondary schools — New River, Pleasant Grove and Buffalo — were closed because they did not meet state requirements, leaving Huntsville, Oneida, Robbins and Norma as the only high schools in the county.

The block building was still being used by the county school system in 1965, when Buffalo School fell victim to consolidation. The school, which at that time employed two teachers, was closed after the 1965-66 school year and students were transported to Capitol Hill for classes.

Following its use as a school, the building at Buffalo was used as a community center for a period of time. At the time of the fire, the building was owned by O.E. Chambers and was vacant.

Enjoy the Independent Herald? Have it delivered to your door! Click here for details.