Phone threat prompts Bishop schools lockdown Friday

Threat was unfounded, no suspect on campuses

DEATH VALLEY – A wooden wagon and three housing units were damaged or destroyed in two separate fires at a privatelyowned resort within Death Valley National Park.

Just after midnight on April 4, park rangers responded to the first fire, which was behind the Borax Museum. The fire destroyed a historic wooden wagon that was used in the 1890s to transport borax out of Death Valley. “Old Dinah,” the steam engine that pulled the wagon, was adjacent to the fire but escaped significant damage. Old Dinah was in use just after the famous Twenty Mule Team era.

Only five wagons sets were constructed

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and used during the Twenty Mule Team era from 1883 to 1898. Of those only three are currently relatively intact.

This includes a set on display at the U.S. Borax Company headquarters in Boron. This set was used in the television series “Death Valley Days.”

Within Death Valley National Park the set of wagons at Harmony Borax Works were not involved in the fire. The Harmony wagons were used in the national tours to promote the sales of Borax. The Harmony wagons also have “integrity of fabric and setting”, this means they have had the fewest alterations and most original material of any existing Twenty Mules Team wagons.

The wagons behind Old Dinah, including the one that was lost, still had about 50% integrity, with original running boards and some metal hardware.

A second fire was reported at 5:15 a.m. approximately 500 feet away from the earlier fire. This fire was in prefabricated housing units that had been delivered for employee housing but not yet occupied.

The National Park Service’s fire engine responded again, and was joined by Southern Inyo Fire Protection District, Inyo County Sherriff and California Highway Patrol. Two units were destroyed and a third was damaged.

No one was harmed in either fire. The cause of the fires is unknown and under investigation by Inyo County Sheriff’s Office and the State Fire Marshall.

Around 9 a.m. Friday, April 19, Bishop Police received a phone call from someone claiming to be armed on the Bishop

Union High School campus and making specific threats to cause harm, according to Bishop Unified officials.

Police immediately directed BUHS to lock down and arrived on campus right away, quickly followed by officials from all other Inyo and Mono law enforcement agencies. Within a couple of minutes, the Home Street Middle School and Bishop Elementary School campuses were also locked down with law enforcement on site.

Over the next couple of hours, law enforcement conducted a thorough investigation of the BUHS campus to ensure buildings were clear for students to exit safely.

Classes were then escorted one at a time out of the building to the front lawn of the high school.

BUSD bus drivers transported BUHS students and

staff to the Tri-County Fairgrounds where a reunification center was organized. The lockdown orders were lifted on the BES and HSMS campuses at approximately 11 a.m.

The BUHS campus was later cleared by law enforcement around 2:30 p.m., allowing students and staff to retrieve their personal belongings and any cars on site.

While the investigation is still ongoing, it appears that the phone call came from someone with no affiliation to the Bishop community and who lives far outside the county. To be clear, there was never a person of interest on any BUSD campuses Friday.

I want to commend all of the BUSD staff members and students who did a truly excellent job calmly and efficiently carrying out District lockdown procedures across all three campuses.

The event is a reminder about the importance and effectiveness of the routine safety drills that BUSD has been implementing for years. We are also extremely grateful for the immediate response and continued presence of our local law enforcement.

Not only did they provide direction and timely informational updates to our schools, their active presence across campuses kept students and staff reassured, safe, and secure.

Lockdown drills are an unfortunate reality in schools. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher, counselor, or site administrator for any further follow up from Friday’s events.

Navigating lockdown circumstances can be highly emotional and some students may need some extra support or an opportunity to ask questions. Together, we can help children self-regulate, feel safe and calm, and be confident that the adults in our community work together to make school a safe place to be.

This is the letter sent to Bishop High School families by the superintendent.