A veld fire that started in the valley behind Hoërskool P.J. Olivier this afternoon has caused extensive damage to two of the school’s R600 000 four-month-old IT labs as well as their biology lab.
A veld fire that started in the valley behind Hoërskool P.J. Olivier this afternoon has caused extensive damage to two of the school’s R600 000 four-month-old IT labs as well as their biology lab.
The school was evacuated and no-one was injured. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Headmaster Piet Snyders said that damages were estimated to be at least R1m. Three servers and 42 computers were destroyed, but all affected buildings were still structurally sound, he said.
Teachers and senior pupils were seen fighting the fire with buckets and hosepipes until the fire brigade arrived. Part of the overhang of the roof of the school building close to the perimeter fence had been burnt.
Two teams of fire fighters were dispatched at 13h15; one to the school and one to the bottom of the mountain behind the caravan park. The fire at the school was brought under control at 17h00, but continued to burn in the veld.
Read the full, detailed story in the Friday 2 March 2012 edition of Grocott's Mail. You can purchase a digital copy here.
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