From the Ashes: Cascade Hall destroyed by fire Feb. 16, 1987
From the ashes
By Katherine Schiffner
Everett Community College president Bob Drewel’s phone rang at 3:16 a.m. There was a fire at the college.
“I could see the fire coming down I-5 from Arlington,” he said.
When he got to EvCC, he saw flames shooting from the roof of the library and student union – a three-alarm blaze that destroyed Cascade Hall. The fire, later determined to be arson, claimed the life of Everett firefighter Gary Parks.
“Any material destroyed pales in comparison to the other tragedy here this morning,” he told The Herald.
A terrible loss
Parks, an 18-year fire department veteran, died after running out of air while fighting the fire. He and six other firefighters were inside the building when a flashover blocked the way out.
Smoke and flames filled the room. Firefighters crawled to safety, using their hose lines to guide them out, but Parks, 48, wasn’t with them. He’d lost his way.
Firefighters found him an hour later. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him, but to no avail. Parks, who was married with two daughters, was pronounced dead shortly before 5 a.m.
It was the first line-of-duty death of an Everett firefighter since the early 1920s.
Heart of the college destroyed
The fire caused more than $8 million in damage and consumed an estimated 48,000 books and 19,000 periodicals, including EvCC yearbooks and historical records.
Hot ash from burning books and newspapers rained down on the surrounding neighborhood.
“The heart of the college is gone,” said German instructor Brigitte Bjorn, who watched as the walls collapsed.
She and other instructors had gathered at the college at 6 a.m. to catch a bus to Olympia to meet with legislators. Instead, they joined stunned students and colleagues watching firefighters continue to hose down the building.
“This is our family. I feel like my own house burned down,” EvCC student Sandy Dudley told reporters.
The fire leveled the college’s student services offices. The cafeteria. The Northlight Gallery. Student government offices. The La Salle d’Ecole restaurant.
Four days later, they learned the fire had been intentionally set. The case remains unsolved.
Project Phoenix
The rubble of Cascade Hall was still smoldering when Drewel started getting offers of help.
The college formed Project Phoenix to coordinate community donations, which ultimately totaled more than $300,000 and 70,000 books.
After being closed for a week, EvCC reopened Feb. 23, 1987. When 6,000 students returned, Drewel, then 40, encouraged them to stay positive about the college’s future.
“It was a knockdown, not a knockout,” said Drewel.
Widely praised for his leadership during the crisis, Drewel would go on to serve two terms as Snohomish County executive and is now the interim chancellor of Washington State University’s North Puget Sound Everett location.
Drewel credits the work of EvCC’s Fire Department, the college’s students, faculty and staff, fire investigators, city of Everett leadership, governor, the community and technical college system and others.
“It was one of the saddest times of my life, but one of the times I’m proudest of too,” he said in a July 2016 interview. “Everyone came together to get us back on our feet as quickly as possible. We knew we had to give our best because Gary Parks had given his last.”
Not forgotten
EvCC President Bob Drewel (second from right) leads the groundbreaking ceremony for the Gary Parks Memorial Student Union and John Terrey Library Media Center on Aug. 17, 1987.
The Washington State Legislature quickly approved money to clean up the charred remains of Cascade Hall, then more to rebuild the college’s library and student union.
In June 1987, EvCC’s Board of Trustees voted to name the new building after Gary Parks. In October 1988, the Gary Parks Memorial Student Union and a library/media center named after the executive director of the community college system, John Terrey, opened.
A permanent memorial to Parks stands north of the building that carries his name. A bronze firefighter’s helmet and jacket sit on a bench, just around the corner from another metal sculpture, the Feather Star.
The sculpture was once located in the atrium of Cascade Hall. It was one of the few things to survive the fire, unscathed except for one bent tip.
The sculpture, which became a symbol of renewal and rebirth for the college, was the inspiration for the three spires in EvCC’s logo.
“It’s a reminder that when we are knocked down, we come back stronger,” said EvCC President David Beyer. “Our college and our students can overcome adversity and succeed.”
Anyone with information that could lead to an arrest in the arson that claimed the life of Everett Firefighter Gary Parks and destroyed EvCC’s student union is encouraged to call detectives at 425-257-8450.
Read more about EvCC's history in the college's 75th anniversary special section in The Herald.