Media Release

Ki-Be High School CSF  11/20/25

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
November 20th, 2025

Assistant Chief Dormaier
Benton County Fire District #2
asstfirechief@benton2.org
Kibe High School – Commercial Structure Fire

Benton City, WA. (November 20th, 2025) – Benton County Fire District #2 was dispatched to the Kibe High School, located at 1205 Horne Dr., for a Possible Commercial Structure Fire at 1049hrs. Due to the 911 caller reports and details, the call was upgraded to a Commercial Structure Fire (CSF) by Dispatchers at SECOMM, and additional response balances of such an incident were dispatched.

On arrival, fire crews had heavy smoke showing, with fire present from an industrial unit attached to a secondary building that is separate from the main building of the high school. School district personnel were making attempts to extinguish the fire using dry chemical extinguishers, while other school district personnel were instructed to get the students completely cleared out from the building. The structure involved houses, both wood & metal shop/classrooms; no other structures were exposed, threatened, nor damaged.

Crews made an aggressive exterior attack while also simultaneously making entry to the interior portions of the commercial structure. Interior crews found heavy smoke conditions inside the structure and made use of positive pressurization of the building, to prevent extension of the fire into the interior portions of the building, as fire was present inside the ducts of the dust collection system; built similar to that of an HVAC system. Primary and secondary searches of the entire building were conducted to confirm that it was not occupied by any students nor school staff. The fire was marked under control at 1131hrs.

Upon completion of fire attack, salvage, and overhaul, the investigation found that an ember from a CNC machine, while cutting/engraving wood, was lodged into the dust collection system, causing a fire in the exterior filter/collection unit, which then allowed fire to progress and travel back through the entire ductwork of the system.

No civilian, nor fire casualties/injuries were reported. Classes at the high school remained “normal” while under a modified lockdown; fire in the building being the root cause of the modified lockdown.

Fire crews were dispatched from a standard CSF run card to include mutual-aid, and automatic-aid from: Benton County Fire District #4, West Benton Fire Rescue, & Richland Fire Department. We were also assisted by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, along with a medic unit from Prosser Memorial Hospital.