Students to be relocated after fire destroys elementary school in Port Coquitlam, B.C.

Teachers and students who have been displaced by a fire that destroyed Hazel Trembath Elementary School in Port Coquitlam, B.C. will be relocated to another building in the district.

The school — which was first built in the 1970s in the suburb of roughly 60,000 residents east of Vancouver— was consumed by a blaze in the early hours of Saturday morning. Authorities have deemed the fire suspicious.

More than 300 children attend the school, including Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West's child. West himself is an alumnus of the school, which is located on Confederation Drive.

The chair of the local school board says that the students will be kept together and moved to Winslow Centre in Coquitlam by the middle of this week as a short-term solution.

"We're going to rally behind the school, we're going to rally behind our students, and we're going to put our kids first," said Michael Thomas, an elected trustee from Port Coquitlam for School District 43.

"We're going to make sure they have what they need to feel safe, secure in their classes, in school."

The Winslow Centre is a former high school that is now a school district facility.

Thomas said it has already hosted other students displaced by a much smaller fire several years ago.

District sets up fundraiser

In a statement, the chair of the Hazel Trembath Elementary Parents' Advisory Council said that she wanted to thank the Port Coquitlam community for their outpouring of support after the devastating fire.

"Hazel Trembath was not only a building but our second home," Naomi Kato said. "In the coming days, we will have a clearer idea on how we will be utilizing support for our school community."

The district has already set up an online fundraiser, supporting the SD43 Foundation, that aims to help families whose children attend the school.

In addition, the City of Port Coquitlam has opened up the Port Coquitlam Community Centre to accept school supplies and other donations.

"We've had a number of retired teachers reach out and say, 'I still have these teaching kits from when I was a teacher ... how can I help?'" Thomas said. "The city is doing amazing. They've stepped up."

Looking for answers

The board chair says that Hazel Trembath will "obviously" be rebuilt, and the school district has already reached out to the Ministry of Education to get the capital funding required.

"I absolutely want to thank our first responders — PoCo Fire in particular — for gallantly fighting the fire [in] our little community gem Hazel Trembath Elementary," Thomas said.

B.C. Education and Child Care Minister Rachna Singh said in a Saturday post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the ministry "will support [the] school district, parents and students through this difficult time."

Continuing learning for students and supporting families and staff impacted by the fire is the ministry's "current priority," according to a Sunday emailed statement to CBC News.

Coquitlam RCMP have asked the public to stay away from the area this weekend due to "potentially hazardous air quality," which the RCMP said could last several days.

Mounties say anyone with video of the incident, or who noticed anything suspicious between 9 p.m. on Friday and 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, to contact investigators.

"Police are asking anyone who may have information regarding the fire, who have not spoken to our officers to contact the Coquitlam RCMP at 604-945-1550," said Sgt. Karrie Ellis in a statement, which asks that the public quote file number 2023-27725.