A fire broke out Friday at Presentation College, San Fernando but it was quickly brought under control by students and fire service officers.
The blaze started in a stockroom that was used to keep old and discarded items. Damage is said to be minimal and there are no reports of casualties.
The principal, Errol Jaikaransingh, told local media the Fire Service responded within ten minutes and doused the flames.
He said the school had recently experienced electrical problems, but he didn't think an electrical fault caused the fire.
"I didn't see any electrical lines or anything on fire. The panel boxes which are in a separate room were not affected. I think we have fire extinguishers to control a small eruption, but that was a larger eruption and no fire extinguishers could have controlled that," Jaikaransingh explained.
One of the students who tried to put out the fire confirmed that it grew out of control. Sachin Ramsubhag told reporters, "We tried to extinguish the flames. However, they kept on growing bigger and bigger."
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| Fire at Presentation College |
The principal, Errol Jaikaransingh, told local media the Fire Service responded within ten minutes and doused the flames.
He said the school had recently experienced electrical problems, but he didn't think an electrical fault caused the fire.
"I didn't see any electrical lines or anything on fire. The panel boxes which are in a separate room were not affected. I think we have fire extinguishers to control a small eruption, but that was a larger eruption and no fire extinguishers could have controlled that," Jaikaransingh explained.
One of the students who tried to put out the fire confirmed that it grew out of control. Sachin Ramsubhag told reporters, "We tried to extinguish the flames. However, they kept on growing bigger and bigger."
He added, "We realised it made no sense to try to continue to attempt to extinguish it so we just decided to move out furniture that was there. We moved out 50 per cent of it but the smoke became too intense. The heat was really strong. We abandoned the evacuation of the furniture and we waited for the Fire Services."
Assistant Chief Fire Officer John Springle said his officers were able to contain the fire to a small room since it was made of reinforced concrete and surrounded by steel doors.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer John Springle said his officers were able to contain the fire to a small room since it was made of reinforced concrete and surrounded by steel doors.
Minister of Education Dr Tim Gopeesingh visited the school and promised that classes would resume by Tuesday. He said pupils writing the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) examinations would not be affected by the blaze.
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