Huge fire wrecks school
28jan03
FIRE gutted a large part of one of Melbourne's biggest secondary colleges
today causing millions of dollars in damage.
Just a day before students were due back from the summer holidays, more
than half of Mount Waverley Secondary College, in the city's south-east,
was destroyed.
The huge blaze broke out shortly after 2am (AEDT) at the Stephensons Road
senior campus, and it took 75 firefighters more than two hours to bring it
under control.
Metropolitan Fire Services' Inspector Murray Wilson said four out of five
computer rooms, several classrooms and science laboratories were lost in
the blaze.
The administration and office areas and the library were believed to be
still intact.
Police said a 16-year-old boy was arrested near the school about the time
the fire began. He had now been released and was expected to be charged on
summons at a later date.
Metropolitan Fire Services communications controller Laurie Crowther said
the damage bill would run into millions of dollars.
"It's a huge loss, I believe some 1200 students were supposed to start
there later in the week, 200 teachers were due to start today, but that
won't be happening now," Mr Crothers said.
"It's an absolute tragedy for the community."
One teacher, Carol, was on her way to the school for her first day at her
new job when she heard news of the devastation.
"When I got here it was even worse than I'd imagined," she told ABC Radio.
"The buildings that are still standing are totally blackened out."
State Education Minister Lynne Kosky said it was the second serious fire at
a Victorian school this month.
A fire at the Hurstbridge Primary School on New Year's Day caused more than
$2 million damage.
"Given that we've had a spate, we need to look at what's happened, what the
different reasons are," she said.
"Hurstbridge was wiring, but we need to review whether we can improve
security within schools," she said.
Ms Kosky will today tour the relocated site of the Hurstbridge school
before it opens to students tomorrow.
She said temporary facilities would be set up at Mount Waverley Secondary
College, while some specialist subjects might be taught at another school
in the area.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,5901567%255E421,00
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