On December 27th, 2016, at approximately 11:30 pm, a 911 call was made, reporting that Lookingglass Elementary had a fire. Roseburg, Winston, and Lookingglass fire departments responded to the fire, immediately rushing to the two buildings known as Lookingglass Elementary. The building that was the gym, cafeteria, band room, and library was engulfed in flames, leaving nothing but debris and ash. Both Lookingglass and the community were devastated, but they quickly found a – temporary – solution.

Thanks to ServPro, they have a modular building on the former tennis court where kids will eat both breakfast and lunch. It has been said that there will be a temporary library in one of the unused rooms in the main building, but we have got no say-so on if that is true.

Still, the question on how the fire was caused is still not answered, but both Lookingglass and the community have seemed to ignore that, focusing on the fact on overcoming the incident. Winston Middle School had hosted a Read-A-Thon and put the money toward Lookingglass. Many Go-Fund-Me fundraisers have been held, and Lookingglass is selling t-shirts for $10 each.

Seeing how the community and Lookingglass has reacted, it is safe to say that they – we all – will recover from this tragedy. The community is strong, not letting anything or anyone stand in their way. They will help Lookingglass thrive again.