(Large bold headlines of Daily Sentinel Star, Monday, February 22, 1971, read, “Twisters Kill 54 in State. Fire Destroys High School.” 475 Students were attending John Rundle High School at this time. These incidents are chronicled in the articles below.)
Daily Sentinel Star
Monday, February 22, 1971
Sunday, February 21, was a day of catastrophe residents of Grenada will not forget. In the late afternoon and early evening tornados caused much damage close to the city – but the city itself was spared. There were tornados reported in Holcomb, Tillatoba, Hardy, Oxberry, Cascilla and Scobey – with no deaths reported in these communities.
Early in the morning of February 22, a fire of undetermined origin destroyed a major portion of John Rundle High School on Line Street. Grenada Fire Department fought the flames in cold weather and a high wind for hours. The local men were aided by a fire-fighting truck from Greenwood.
There was no official report where the fire began. One theory was that a bolt of lightening – of which there was considerable during the tornado period – may have ignited the roof but that flames were delayed in making themselves noticeable.
Daily Sentinel Star
Tuesday, February 23, 1971
Federal, state and local officials continue today to probe the remains of a fire gutted Grenada public school. No word is expected immediately from the office of the State Fire Marshal, the FBI or local police concerning the origin of the $500,000 blaze which almost completely destroyed the original John Rundle High School Building.
Firemen managed to save the southwest wing annex to the 39-year-old structure. The seven-classroom annex, the home economics classrooms, the band building and the vocational agriculture building will be utilized under the present plan to continue schooling for the12th grade.
Here is the official statement released yesterday afternoon from the office of Supt. Wilborn:
The loss of the John Rundle High School facilities as a result of a fire early Monday morning was a severe blow to the entire community. This shock, along with the injuries and damage to personal property caused by the tornado last night, necessitated our closing the public schools for today. In spite of these setbacks, we feel that we must strive even harder to provide educational opportunities for our young people.
The schools will open tomorrow morning at the regular time for all students except those who were attending John Rundle High School. After surveying our remaining facilities, we find that we shall be able to house all the 11th grade students in classrooms in the Carrie Dotson and Willa Wilson centers. This can be done without adversely affecting existing classes in these two buildings.
Principals Nathaniel Boclair and J.M. Ainsworth are working out a schedule which we hope to have completed by Thursday of this week. By utilizing the seven classrooms that were not damaged in John Rundle High School, along with classroom space available in the Vocational-Technical building, we feel that we shall be able to handle all 12th grade students in that center; however, these facilities cannot be made ready before the latter part of this week.
School officials will be unable to ascertain textbook needs until John Rundle students report their loss of books. The officials of the State Textbook Commission, have assured us of their full cooperation in helping meet this emergency.
We realize that these changes will necessitate some adjustments. We hope that you, the public, will work with us as we work and strive to overcome this setback.
