Oxnard School Building Destroyed; Chesterfield House Fire

A pre-dawn blaze at Rose Avenue Elementary in Oxnard, Calif., on Sept. 22 (reported about 3:13–3:15 a.m.) destroyed an older classroom building that had been slated for demolition, sent large plumes of smoke and forced classes to shut down for at least the day. Fire crews initially fought the Oxnard fire from outside because of unsafe conditions, had largely contained the blaze by morning, and remained on scene as the extent of the damage and the cause were being investigated. Separately, firefighters in Chesterfield County, Va., responded to a reported structure fire on Stanley Drive at 4:08 p.m. on Sept. 23 and extinguished heavy flames within about 20 minutes. All occupants in the Chesterfield incident escaped unharmed, but three adults and a child were displaced and are being assisted by the American Red Cross while that cause is under investigation.