Fire at Fanny Village Government Primary

DAYS before the new school term is set to be reopened, there are reports of a fire at the newly reopened Fanny Village Government Primary School.

This is the second fire at the school in some seven years. The original building was destroyed by fire in 2015. Students were housed at the nearby community centre for seven years.

Both the Point Fortin police and fire services are probing the cause, at the school which was formally commissioned on November 14, by Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly.

Reports indicate that shortly after 1 am on New Year’s morning, fire services responded to a trouble call and discovered fire in three of the classrooms in the science and technology departments.

The fire was quickly extinguished and contained.

It is believed the fire could have been electrical but an investigation will determine cause and an assessment of damage.

A state-of-the art facility to ensure all students would be given the best opportunity for holistic development was constructed at a cost of $37 million.

It is not certain whether the school will be ready for students on Tuesday, when the new term is set to be opened.

Point Fortin MP Kennedy Richards Jr said while the damage is not that critical, the problem may be in isolating the rest of the school population from that block.

“So, I doubt very much the school will be reopened on Tuesday.”

He said he has been in touch with Gadsby-Dolly who would take the decision whether or not to open after consultation with the various stakeholders.

“What I can tell you is that around 1 am, security guards on the compound spotted the fire and contacted the fire services department.

“Fire responded and were able to contain the fire to basically three rooms. The entire school is not burnt. The damaged classrooms – science, technology and computer rooms - are very much isolated.

“I am not certain about the extent of the damage to equipment. The computers may be water logged and investigations will determine whether they can be salvaged."

Richards said it was very sad this happened less than one and a half months the school was commissioned and on the eve of reopening for the new term.

However, he said he was happy that a fire suppression unit, which was built into the school's infrastructure, was used by the fire service to contain the fire.