December 28, 2006

Gust blows modular onto I-84
Classroom bound for Henley schools, modular blocks freeway for an hour

By RODGER NICHOLS
of The Chronicle

     Half of a modular classroom destined for the Henley school district near Klamath Falls flipped over Wednesday morning during wind gusts on Interstate 84 at Exit 82.
     A 1998 Freightliner truck towing a flatbed trailer with 1/2 of a modular classroom on it was eastbound on Interstate 84 near milepost 82.
     The driver, Clifford G. Carpenter, Jr., 51, from Aumsville, told state police a gust of wind blew the modular classroom off the trailer and over the median, where it landed across the westbound lanes resting partially on the median.
     The accident blocked westbound freeway traffic for about an hour; westbound traffic on I-84 was diverted to the Washington side at The Dalles Bridge.
     No vehicles were struck and there were no reported injuries. The area is one of the few in the state with a “wind gusts” warning sign on the highway.
     Allen Myers, who was driving the truck hauling the other half of the building, said, “We came around the corner and there was this wicked wind. His tipped over and mine didn’t.”
     Both trucks were accompanied by pilot cars. The modular units were being shipped from the Aumsville plant of Modern Building Systems near Salem.
     Myers said the trucks were headed for Biggs to take Highway 97 south to Klamath Falls. The long route was used because of snowy conditions in the Cascade passes.
     Henley school district had purchased the modular home as a temporary replacement for its elementary school, which had been condemned before the opening of classes in September when asbestos was found in the attic.
     That discovery was made as part of a re-roofing project, caused by the discovery of mold in the building.
     Last year, parents reported their children had suffered respiratory illnesses and other health problems because of poor air quality at the school.
     “[The asbestos] is in the ceiling of virtually the whole school,” Greg Thede, the school’s superintendent, told the Klamath Fall News and Herald when the discovery was made.
     An asbestos abatement firm has been hired by the district, and Henley elementary classes have been conducted in the Henley High School library so far this school year.
     Officials were unsure whether the half-building could be repaired or whether a new one would have to be manufactured.