RICHMOND, Va. — Fox Elementary will reopen this school year for the first time since a devastating fire tore through the school in February 2022.
In the days, weeks, and months following that disaster, the CBS 6 Investigative Team uncovered a myriad of safety failures leading up to the fire.
The investigation revealed the school alarm system was not properly functioning and exposed an accusation from the fire department that the school district was "extremely neglecting" the safety inspection process.
Some of the first indications of a problem included a notice of violation of a faulty alarm panel and a work order submitted by the Fox principal for error messages appearing on the alarm panel. That warning came just 10 days before the fire.
Melissa Hipolit later uncovered more than 20 Richmond schools complained about issues with their fire alarms in the months before the fire. Many of the panels had not been programmed with the correct phone number and therefore could not communicate with the alarm company.
Watch: Richmond Schools, Richmond Alarm knew panels weren't working. But they never fixed them.
On the night of the fire, firefighters spent just 12 minutes inside the school during their initial response and then left. Less than 30 minutes later, they returned to find the building engulfed in flames.
Richmond fire said they left because the alarm panel was not functioning correctly and did not indicate to firefighters where within the school building the fire was located.
Emails obtained by Tyler Layne 6 would then reveal that just a month before the Fox fire, a fire captain emailed the school district saying his team was being denied access into schools to re-inspect them for more than 200 fire code violations across Richmond public schools.
The fire captain said Richmond schools showed a "complete lack of effort" ensuring schools were safe for occupancy and that the facilities manager had placed himself in a position of "extreme neglect."
In the aftermath of our reporting, Richmond schools and Richmond fire committed to strengthening collaboration and the inspection process, and all fire alarm panels were tested and repaired or replaced.
Richmond schools announced all school buildings had been inspected and re-inspected before the start of this past school year. It was the first time in the district's history that all fire code violations were cleared before kids arrived for their first day of school.
Of note, Richmond fire never released an official cause of the fire but did determine it was accidental in nature.
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