One of the first people to offer help after a fire at Victoria Girls' High School last week was Piet Snyders, principal of Hoerskool PJ Olivier, less than half a kilometre away, whose own school was gutted by fire three days earlier.
One of the first people to offer help after a fire at Victoria Girls' High School last week was Piet Snyders, principal of Hoerskool PJ Olivier, less than half a kilometre away, whose own school was gutted by fire three days earlier.
VGHS last week became the third Grahamstown school to be hit by fire in two months and, in the latest blaze, at the well-known girls' school, arson is suspected.
The school's bursar's office caught fire around 8.45pm on Thursday. A person walking past the school noticed the blaze through one of the office windows facing Beaufort Street and immediately alerted a student supervisor in Beaufort House hostel, next door to the administration building.
The student supervisor called hostel matron Sharon Dampies. She in turn called Hi Tec security company, who summoned the fire department.
“I left the hostel as soon as I finished phoning Hi Tec and as I came around the corner to the office block, the fire department were racing down the road towards us,” said Dampies.
The fire was put out swiftly and the focus then turned to saving school documents kept by the Bursar.
Joubert Retief, a teacher at PJ Olivier and the husband of VGHS's deputy principal, was also on the scene and was later praised for his efficiency in organising those present to remove the files from the smouldering office.
“Joubert was amazing in the way that he immediately controlled the situation and organised everyone, including the firemen, in quickly saving the files,” said the school's bursar, Petro Werth.
In an email to Grocott's Mail, VGHS principal Warren Schmidt commented that Snyders had been one of the first on the scene and had offered any assistance they might need.
“The fire department found an empty bottle on the scene that had held the fire accelerant,” said Schmidt.
He said there were signs of attempted entry at a window of the main administration building, next door to the bursar's office, as well as burn marks underneath the front door. The bursar's office was apparently targeted next and it is suspected that the accelerant was splashed underneath the door and set alight.
“That area of campus is very isolated and dark,” said Schmidt. “We suspect that they originally targeted the main administration building and when they failed, they turned to the bursars office.”
Detectives are analysing the bottle for fingerprints.
“The staff couldn't have reacted better," said Schmidt. "So many people are to thank for the fact that it didn't get out of hand, especially the fire department, who were so efficient.”
“Because of their quick thinking, we didn't lose any records, only fire and water damage to some furniture, the floor and ceiling and a computer.”
Considering that the fire had occurred directly below the school's library, he said, the incident had the potential to be much worse. Investigations are currently under way.
In the first of three fires at former model C schools in Grahamstown, the Graeme College school hall was damaged after a fire broke out days before the start of the school year. The school has since been forced to hold assembly and some rehearsals out of doors.
A fire at Hoerskool PJ Olivier last Tuesday caused extensive damage to classrooms and the school's new computer lab. Schmidt, in his email, said, "The fire at VG was contained to a single admin area and was in no way as devastating as the fire at PJ. We value Mr Snyders’s offer of assistance and, more generally, our excellent relationship with PJ Olivier and many other schools in Grahamstown."
