Quick action saves classroom
BY ROBYN DOWNEY
SMALL BURN: A small area of the Dargaville High School A Block common room that was burnt after an outside light malfunctioned on Sunday morning.
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Dargaville & Districts
School officials and the Fire Service are praising the quick actions of Dargaville residents who live near Dargaville High School for saving one of its main classroom blocks after an outside light malfunctioned causing a fire.
Principal David Bargh says just before 3am on Sunday residents made multiple 111 calls to the fire brigade, even before the school’s own fire alarm sounded.
"We are extremely grateful to the community and in turn the fire brigade, who were phenomenally quick in getting here," Mr Bargh says.
The school also appreciated the fact that the brigade stayed at the site for at least two hours to ensure the fire was totally out and not likely to reignite.
A small section of the northern wall of the weatherboard common room was burnt and Mr Bargh says the inside roof area is still intact.
"It could have been a lot worse if they had not been able to get on to it quickly and we can’t thank the residents enough that made the calls," he says.
Northland region fire safety officer Craig Bain reiterated that the community’s calls helped save the school.
The fire was not suspicious. An outside light had malfunctioned, probably because of moisture getting into the electrical components, he says.
"That rain we had on Saturday was exceptional and this shows the advantage of schools having their own automatic fire alarm systems in place."
He says the Te Kopuru and Ruawai fire brigades were also called to the incident but the Dargaville brigade managed to get the situation under control in a short time and the other brigades were stood down.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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