Fire officials said the blaze this afternoon caused more than $1 million in damage to the charter school's performance and physical education center. Witnesses reported seeing smoke and flames 50 to 60 feet high.

No one was seriously injured, but one firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation and three police officers needed attention for heat exhaustion.

The fire was declared under control at 6:09 p.m. and firefighters were hosing down hot spots at 11 tonight.

Staring at the flames was a stunned Jim Bukes, the school's athletic director, who reported the fire and alerted others in the L-shaped building after checking on a fire alarm that had gone off.

"It's devastating," Bukes said.

The building housed the Lab School's drama, orchestra, theater, physical education programs and athletic office as well as some University of Hawai'i-Manoa College of Education Curriculum, Research and Development offices.

"Everything we had, all our uniforms and equipment," is gone, Bukes said.

"We lost a lot of memories but things can be replaced. You can't replace people and I'm thankful no one was injured."

donations accepted

The University of Hawai'i Foundation is accepting donations to assist University Laboratory School.

"We have to find classroom space and we can only hope the community will have an outpouring like it did for the Manoa floods," said Don Young, director of the UH College of Education Curriculum, Research and Development Group, which oversees the Lab School.

To contribute to the "UH Laboratory School Fire Recovery Fund" call

(808) 956-8849, go to www.uhf.hawaii.edu or send donations to University of Hawai'i Foundation, P.O. Box 11270, Honolulu, HI 96828-0270.