Baker High Auditorium Burns

"On March 31, 1971, tragedy struck Baker in the form of a fire. For more than six hours the fire blazed. Left was an empty shell of an auditorium." These words with pictures of the remains are on pages 232-4 in the '71 annual. Remarkably, they have a photo of an album found in the aftermath that was mostly unscathed, "Jesus Christ Superstar".

I remember that day very well. I was in world history class when the fire alarm went off and all of us groaned, "Another fire drill." Needless to say, it became very exciting when someone noted smoke pouring from the roof of the auditorium. Flames went shooting about 100 feet in the air. There were several fire engine companies trying to put the blaze out which took the better part of 6 hours. Classes were cancelled for the remainder of the day. They rebuilt it soon after. Investigations into the fire revealed a boiler being the cause and no foul play was suspected. Thankfully, there was no loss of life or injury.

Walt Egenmaier ('71)

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