Highline's oldest school will-for a third time in its history-house elementary students.

Cedarhurst students will be temporarily assigned to Sunnydale School, located at 15631 Eighth Ave. S. in Burien, after a stubborn roof fire on July 14 damaged their new building.

Cedarhurst, 611 S. 132nd St. in Burien, was scheduled to open in September.

Students from an alternative school, Big Picture High, have been housed at Sunnydale but will move to the old Glacier High School site in September. Glacier is at 2450 S. 142nd St. in SeaTac.

Assistant Superintendent Geri Fain announced the changes at the Highline School Board meeting on July19.

Fain reported that fire damage concentrated in the roof on the northwest wing housing the entryway, library and administrative area.

A structural engineer will assess materials left in the remaining area of the building, which includes classrooms and the cafeteria and gymnasium.

The fire-accidentally started by workers using a welder's torch on the roof-did not spread to those areas, she added.

A private recovery company has been hired to secure the burn site, remove debris and return that part of the structure to its former condition.

Officials should know sometime this week the scope of work, Fain said. It will take about eight weeks to receive some of the building supplies that need to be ordered.

"We can't speculate how long Cedarhurst will be in this temporary set-up until we see the contractor's work plan," Fain said.

New bus routes are also being drawn up to transport Cedarhurst students to Sunnydale.

"We are moving quickly," Fain noted.

Burien/Normandy Park Fire Chief Mike Marrs said the fire was particularly difficult to fight. The first engine arrived at 2:25 p.m. and firefighters did not leave until midnight.

The steel roof required firefighters to peel back layers of metal and insulation foam to get to the blaze.

"We are ordinarily able to get to a (wood) roof much faster," Marrs noted.

Working on a metal roof during a hot summer day meant crews had to be continually rotated, according to Marrs.

Around 100 "firefighters worked their tails off," he said.

In addition to Burien/Normandy Park firefighters, crews responded from SeaTac, North Highline, Tukwila, Renton, Seattle, Bellevue, Kent and Maple Valley. South County medics were also on the scene.

Marrs estimated damage at $250,000 to $300,000, despite the fact that about 80 percent of the total roof area and 99 percent of the building was saved.

July is proving to be a bad month for Highline school fires.

Last year, a fire, apparently caused by illegal fireworks, destroyed the old Boulevard Park School and an annex in SeaTac on July 2.

The buildings were being used as a storage facility and workshop to assemble science kits for elementary students.

In 1887, pioneers built a one-room school at the north end of the Sunnydale site. The elementary school served students for decades until being closed in the late 1970s due to declining enrollment.

It reopened to elementary students after a decade, but was closed again as a grade school in June 2005.

Cedarhurst students, staff and parents were looking forward to moving into their new school in September.

Some staffers and parents had asked the district to close the old building in 2004 because of poor air quality.

Parents complained that their children suffered from respiratory problems, chronic fatigue and repeated bouts of strep throat. During weekends or vacations, the symptoms quickly disappeared, they said.

A librarian resigned after claiming she was unable to work because she suffered respiratory problems at the school.

However, health investigators found no mold and district officials opted to keep the old Cedarhurst School open until it was replaced this year.