| Dundee City Council says it will have to assess the damage at Craigie High School before deciding if pupils will be able to return after the October holidays next week.
Staff at the school today escaped the building unharmed.
Three fire engines and an aerial ladder attended the blaze in the science block of the school shortly after the school’s janitor raised the alarm around 8am.
Firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control. They will now undertake a joint investigation with Tayside Police to determine how the fire started.
Crew manager Scott Brickman said the fire was already well developed when the service arrived and said “significant” damage had been done.
“The cause is undetermined at this point but there is significant fire damage and water damage resulting from a burst pipe on the ground floor of the science block,” he said.
“Due to the nature of the chemicals stored in the building, precautionary measures were put in place to prevent water interacting with them. These measures were successful.”
He added, “We can confirm that the building was empty and that nobody was injured by the fire.”
An education department spokesman was unable to say if the school would reopen next week. “The department does not yet know the extent of the damage and we will be looking to establish this as soon as it is possible,” he said.
A spokesperson for Tayside Police said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire but confirmed that a joint investigation would start today.
Council administration leader Kevin Keenan said, “If the damage is such that the school can’t reopen in time, we will have to look at alternative provision for the pupils.”
He said much would depend on whether the school had to be closed entirely or only the damaged section.
“Should it be necessary to decant the whole school we have Rockwell available,” he said.
“But if only some of the pupils need to be decanted there is spare capacity in other schools.”
Pupils were accommodated at Rockwell During major refurbishment work at St John’s High and Morgan Academy.
A disused Dundee primary school had to be demolished — at a cost of £85,000 — after being targeted by vandals earlier this year. Four youths were reported to the Children’s Panel in connection with the blaze. |
