Weekend Fire Guts Catholic Elemetary School In Missouri

Kindergarten teacher Kim Ronnebaum walked around the smoldering debris of Atchison Catholic Elementary School on Sunday hoping to find some part of the building still intact.

But a fire the night before had destroyed nearly everything at the school where she taught. Textbooks, desks, bulletin boards, art supplies and even lunch trays were ruined when the fire gutted and collapsed the school.

Flames had already penetrated the roof when firefighters arrived about 7:30 p.m. Saturday. It took firefighters several hours to control the blaze.

A damage estimate has not been set, but the building is a complete loss, said Lt. Ron Pennington of the Atchison Fire Department.