SCHOOL ON FIRE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1082, 20 September 1930, Page 1

SCHOOL ON FIRE

OUTBREAK AT MT. ALBERT GRAMMAR GOWNS AND BOOKS DAMAGED Fire broke out in the Mt. Albert Grammar School at 7-45 this morning, and the caretaker, Mr. T. Walker, using fire extinguishers, had a hard fight with the flames until the arrival of the fire brigade. The fire broke out in the masters* cloakroom, but was extinguished after doing comparatively little damage. A number of the masters' gowns were destroyed. Mr- Walker who resides on the school grounds, noticed smoke issuing from the building at about 7.45 a.m. He was on the scene immediately and found the masters’ cloak-room on the top floor, ablaze. For some time he was confronted with a hard fight with fire extinguishers, but had tho flames practically under control, when the Mount Albert Fire Brigade arrived within short notice of the alarm. The ceiling was still burning, but the brigade quickly had this under control.

There was no furniture in the room and the damage was confined to the coats and gowns which were hanging up although a new floor may be necessary. A few books in the room below were spoiled by water, but generally the damage was not extensiveOn Saturday mornings it is customary lor Mr. Walker to go to the school about six o’clock in the morning for the purpose of lighting the gas ring to boil water for the cleaners, who arrive about eight. The gas ring is in a small room off the masters’ cloakroom. He lit the gas this morning leaving the ring on a stone slab, and returned to his house. It was later that he saw the smoke coming from the building. When interviewed this morning Mr. Walker said that he thought there had been a block in the gas ring and with a “back-fire” the flame had caught the rubber connection and then set fire to the wall.