Major fire at Glasgow Steiner School in Yorkhill
A major fire at an independent school in the west end of Glasgow broke out last week and up to 60 children were led to safety.
55 firefighters and 10 appliances were deployed to prevent the fire spreading and Incident Commander, ACO Lewis Ramsay said: “The initial crews have worked tirelessly to tackle the blaze and operations are ongoing to contain the fire.
“Members of the local community can be assured that fire crews will continue to work relentlessly until this incident is brought to a safe conclusion.
“An effective multi-agency approach with police and the local authority is ongoing to manage the incident and reassure local residents.”
Following the evacuation, pupils were taken to a local community centre. No-one is thought to have been injured.
A joint investigation by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue and Strathclyde Police will determine the cause of the blaze that is not yet known.
School evacuated as fire destroys buildings
Around 200 pupils at school in south Wales had to be evacuated when a blaze broke out on 19th June.
The fire started in an area which housed the ICT suite at Betws Primary School, near Bridgend, at around 2.30pm.
One section of the school was destroyed but the nursery, infants and Flying Start buildings were not damaged.
Police advised local residents to remain indoors, keeping windows shut due to the huge amount of thick black smoke coming from the fire.
A spokesman for Bridgend council said: “This has been an upsetting incident for all pupils, and staff and council officers are arranging support for those children who need it. The council is grateful for the prompt response of school staff and the emergency services. Council officers are on the scene and will be working with the police and fire service to find the cause of the blaze and secure the area.”
More than 1300 schools each year suffers a fire large enough to be attended by the local fire services and 56% of these were classed as non-accidental. The average cost of school fires was £58 million per year between 2000 and 2004. This means that the odds of a school experiencing a fire are 1 in 20! This does not account for the fires that are not reported or put out by members of staff.
Most of these fires are small and do not spread from the source of the fire, but the unpredictability of fire means this may not be the case. As the large number of fires are not accidental, it is important that you look at arson reduction measures.
The fire Safety in Educational Premises course is designed with the above statistics in mind, along with the expertise of our trainers, all of whom have no less than 10 years operational fire fighting experience in a UK fire service, involving many visits to educational premises.
For further information, call us now on 0845 0553 999 or contact us
Infant and nursery unit destroyed in blaze
A school in Bulwark near Cheptsow has lost it’s infant and nursery departments after a huge fire broke out in the early hours of Friday morning.
Thornwell Primary school was closed for half term at the time of the fire with pupils due to return on Monday 6th June. Linda Davies who is the head teacher at the school said: “It’s just heart breaking. All the hard work, all the children’s, well everything that they’ve ever done over the last year has just completely gone up in smoke.”
A statement from Monmouthshire County Council was released saying: “A fire broke out at Thornwell Primary School, Chepstow, in the early hours of Friday morning. It has completely destroyed the infant building, which included three classrooms, the nursery unit and infant hall. We are assessing the situation and it is hoped that the school will be open early next week with infant pupils being accommodated in the junior building.”
No casualties were reported. An investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the blaze.