It was home to the Eastern Washington State College (EWSC) Eagles basketball team until the Reese Court opened in 1975.
The building had been located 70 miles away at Farragut Naval Training Station in Bayview, Idaho, where it had been used for drill.
The fire was started when a spark from a welder's torch found fuel in a pile of the building's dismantled material.
With more than half the roof already removed, a "wind tunnel" effect was created as the fire pulled in the oxygen it needed to quickly grow.
At times they had to turn the hoses up into the eaves of the ROTC building's roof as fires had started there due to the heat.
Lt. Gene Bloom almost lost his life due to a falling roof shortly after responding to the fire.
[8] Eastern Washington State College sought reimbursement for the $70 million worth of damages to the campus facilities.