Dear Parents & Families of BTCCC

As you already know, there was a fire emergency at the BTCCC on Friday, February 22. The smoke alarm went off around 11:30 AM. A quick check of the kitchen and laundry room revealed nothing. At this time, the preschoolers were playing outside and the school age children were in the building. The building was quickly evacuated. A staff member saw flames near the boy’s bathroom. By this time, the children were already out of the building. The preschool teachers also made the wise decision to evacuate from the preschool playground. The children were brought to the far end of the Reed School play structure initially. We then moved to the tables by the Reed School Multipurpose room. There were 60 children moved out of the building and playground quickly and safely by 11 staff members. Parents were called soon after the evacuation and by 2:30 PM, all children were picked up.

The building is a total loss, however, and will have to be replaced. For obvious reasons, we are unable to operate at the Reed Site. Bel Aire and Del Mar children may attend the Bel Aire Site as usual starting Feb. 25. Parents of preschool and Kinder through 2nd Graders must make alternative arrangements for child care for the full week of Feb. 25. We will contact parents during the week to inform you if we are able to provide any kind of service for the week of March 3.

We have already initiated communication with different parties necessary to resume operation for the interim and for the long term. This includes the school district, licensing, the insurance company, architects and builders.

We know that this is a hardship for many families but please keep in mind that it is more important that no one was injured during this incident. Just a little thought to help keep things in perspective.

I am deeply grateful……

• To the BTCCC staff present on that day for exercising good judgement and quick action during the evacuation and for keeping the children calm and secure while waiting for parents to pick up.
  
• To Lou Perrelli who helped us contact parents.
• To Chris Carter, the superintendent of the Reed Union School District for coming to the scene and currently working with us to make alternative arrangements.
• To all the parents for coming as quickly as they could and maintaining a sense of calmness as they picked up their children.
• To all others who have shown their support since Friday afternoon.

We are happy to entertain any questions and concerns you might have. You can e-mail us at btccc@yahoo.com or belvederetiburonchildcare@yahoo.com. You may also call us starting at 381-2243. Information and updates as they develop will also be posted on our website at www.btccc.org and on this blog. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Cristina Burrell
Executive Director