With Secondary Entrance Exams (SEA) just two months away, parents of students attending Fanny Village Government Primary School watched in horror yesterday as a pre-dawn fire re-ignited around midday and burnt down most of the school. Seething parents chastised the firemen saying the second fire could have been avoided if the wooden administrative building and washrooms were properly soaked by the fire response team. Only two pre-fab buildings were left standing.
The initial flames were first spotted by resident Marvin Roberts around 4 am when he got up to jog in the nearby savannah. “I saw smoke and when I looked up at the school, I saw a bright orange flame from the roof. It looked like it was the library building. I called the security and then I ran across the savannah and told a neighbour who alerted the fire officers,” Roberts said. With the fire station less than quarter mile away, the firefighters from Point Fortin Fire Station arrived within five minutes and put out the blaze.
The main library block was completely burnt but the rest of the school was untouched. President of the PTA Byron Cumberbatch and President of the Fanny Village Council Curt Allan arrived and tried to remove the printer and other valuables from the main building. But Cumberbatch said he noticed wisps of white smoke coming from the building. “I told the fireman that it looked like the fire was still burning but he tell me not to tell him how to do his job. He said not to worry, the fire under control and we should not remove anything else from the school,” Cumberbatch said.
For several hours the villagers kept watch and when the Guardian arrived, smoke was billowing from the back of the school. At 12.45 midday, the fire started to spread from the main building. Allan called the fire station but there was no response from the firefighters. “They told us that only when we seeing fire we should call,” Cumberbatch complained. This reporter called 990 at 1.10 pm to report that the building was on fire and none of the officers from Point Fortin Fire Station had responded. The operator responded, “What! Nobody came as yet? Let me call them back.”
The officers arrived at 1.18 pm and by then the entire school was engulfed. Fanned by strong winds, the fire crept under the roof of the main building while firefighters used ladders to reach the roof. The Point Fortin Borough Corporation Community Emergency Response Team also assisted in clearing the villagers from the fire scene. Around 2 pm, Petrotrin firefighters arrived and the fire was brought under control.
PARENTS WORRIED
A parent whose daughter is in Standard 5 said she was very worried that the fire would affect her child’s performance at SEA. “With exams so close, I don’t know how this will affect her. We waiting for a new school for years now and nothing happened. Because we live in Point, they forget us,” she said. Two children who attend the school said it was sad to see the school burnt down. Cumberbatch said the school has over 380 pupils and 12 teachers. He said in 2008, construction of a new building started but the project was never completed because of shoddy work.
GOPEESINGH RESPONDS
Contacted on his cell phone yesterday, Gopeesingh said the old school building was expected to be demolished soon to make way for the construction of a new school. He said the students will be accommodated in the nearby community centre while a new school is being built. “We have to expedite the process for the new school to be built. In the meantime, we have the EFCL looking into this,” Gopeesingh said. Allan said the Village Council will work with the affected students. However he said the Community Centre did not have any electricity as the supply was cut by T&TEC.