Fire at Lytchett Minster School

9:03am Thursday 27th December 2012 in Latest

This live event has finished

Latest

  • Around 70 firefighters from Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service dealt with a fire at Lytchett Minster School's theatre block.
  • A huge plume of smoke could be seen for miles.
  • Press liaison firefighter Dave Arundel said there will be firefighters at the school for the next 24hours. The building is "lost".
  • The most likely cause of the fire is believed to be a lightning strike. Other lines of enquiry are also being looked at.

5:41pm

We think that's all the updates we're going to get for now, but we'll keep the blog open overnight just in case. Thanks for following our coverage.

5:40pm

Lytchett Minster School have put the following statement on their website:

As many of you will now be aware, the school has suffered a major fire to the Creative Arts block and Gainsford Theatre.

This was caused by a massive lighting strike in the early hours of Thursday morning. As a result, the whole block has been destroyed.

We have dealt with this sort of emergency before and are determined to minimise the impact on students' education and keep the school developing and improving despite this, to ensure that our young people's experience remains outstanding.
    

The priority now is to ensure that the site is made safe and this will take place as soon as contractors can be engaged. School will regrettably not be open for the first two days of term (except for staff) and a phased return may be required after this. Examination commitments will not be jeopardised.
     

Plans have to be fluid at this stage but parents and students will be kept up to date via the school website and Parentmail.
    

Many students will be concerned about the loss of coursework. We have good records of this work; please be sure that we will handle this with exam boards and are confident of a sympathetic approach from them.

5:16pm

Here's more of our chat with Lytchett Minster School head teacher Stuart Clark from earlier. He said the theatre block was the building of all the buildings on the site that they love the most:

4:21pm

We've just had the following update from Dorset Fire and Rescue Service:

Crews are now damping down from the exterior of the  building, and from above, via the Aerial Ladder Platforms, but due to the unsafe structure and advice from Dorset County Council's surveyor, firefighting will not be conducted from within the building nor will any fire investigation be undertaken until safe.

At the height of this fire, DFRS had 10 appliance (approx 50 firefighters) plus support from Wiltshire, Hampshire and Devon and Somerset FRS', making a total of approx 70 fire fighters.

When the first crews arrived at the scene, the fire was coming from the central roof area, making it, as with the other two incidents this morning, a possibility that lightning was the cause.

The two other incidents mentioned are the fire at the Cliff End hotel and a barn fire at Spire Hill Farm in Thornhill.

 

3:42pm

One man managed to get caught up in two of Dorset’s three major fires this morning.

Simon Ballard, 25, was dropping off his girlfriend in Boscombe Manor when the fire in a derelict hotel was underway.

He then returned home to Lytchett Minster, where his former school had gone up in smoke.

“I can’t believe what’s happened to me. I’ve spent the first four hours of my day watching fires.

"It’s devastating and has to be connected to the lightning.

"I can’t see any other way. I was in year seven or eight when the last fire happened at the school,” he said.
 

3:24pm

School governor Ian Jolly added: “At 6.20am we looked out after the massive lightening strike and couldn’t see anything.

"But then we heard all the alarms going off. It’s devastating. We’re all in shock.
 

“The whole school community are just devastated.”
 

3:06pm

Head teacher of Lytchett Minster School, Stuart Clark said: “I am devastated by it. It is the building which is the most loved in the school.

"At present there is about 15 staff in, very upset, but getting on with contingency plans for what we are going to do.
 

“This has happened to us before and we are now scouring the whole country trying to find temporary accommodation.

"The problem is the arts block is so specialist it is going to be difficult."
 

3:05pm

Sisters Nikki, 21, and Kirsty Turner, 19, had come down to their former school to see the damage.

Nikki said: “It must be awful for all the teachers. Just after Christmas – they must be devastated.

“Everyone loved that building. It was the place where we all went.”
 

Kirsty added: “So many memories just all gone in one incident.

"It’s terrible.”
 

2:47pm

We've added more pictures to our photo gallery, you can view it here

1:29pm

As some of our commenters have mentioned, there was a fire at the school in June 2000. An exam hall and science labs were destroyed by the blaze.

12:56pm

Here's that aerial footage from Richard:

12:40pm

Richard has just shot some video of the school from the aerial ladder platform, which we'll have up for you very shortly.

12:29pm

11:56am

11:36am


 

11:15am

Andy Martin sent in this footage of the blaze taken earlier on:

10:49am

Here's some video footage from Richard of press liaison firefighter Dave Arundel speaking to us earlier on:

10:48am

Marie Wickham who also lives nearby said:

"I saw the blue lights and the sirens and a farmer from behind us came to tell us the school was on fire. It's such a nightmare for them. I can't believe it."

10:46am

Andy Martin has been speaking to people who live nearby. Former pupil Becky Ballard, 21, who lives on the lane opposite the school was woken by a bang:

"I was woken by the biggest bang I have ever heard. It really shook me. Then not long afterwards we heard the sirens and realized the school was on fire.

"It's a terrible shame for the school to have this happen again. I am a former pupil so I have a great attachment to it."

Her brother Simon, 25, added: "the funny thing was I took my girlfriend to Boscombe this morning so I saw the fire at the Cliff End Hotel near to where I dropped her off.
 

"Then I came back here to see the school ablaze and I couldn't believe it. Two fires in the space of an hour."

 

10:35am

10:33am

Katie has just said the most likely cause is believed to be a lightning strike. Other lines of enquiry are also being looked at.

A lightning strike is also believed to be the cause of the fire at Boscombe's Cliff End hotel this morning.

10:25am

10:08am Thu 27 Dec 12

Cordite says

Absolutely devastated. I have a distraught child who has spent over 100 hours on art work which is now all lost.

Did this building not have sprinklers or at least an addressable fire alarm system which is monitored 24 hours?

10:25am

Another picture sent back from photographer Richard Crease at the scene. We've started a gallery and you can see more images here

 

10:03am

10:03am

9:54am

9:54am

9:51am

This from one of our commenters who lives near to the school:

9:34am Thu 27 Dec 12

Sue001 says

I live nearby and was woken up around 6am with thunder and lightening overhead, my power went out. Wonder if the school was struck by lightning?

9:50am

Here's that video footage from Richard we mentioned earlier:

9:40am

9:40am

9:40am

9:40am

9:40am

9:27am

Richard has also just sent us some video from the school, we'll have this online for you shortly.

9:26am

9:25am

Photographer Richard Crease has sent us back some pictures of firefighters dealing with the blaze at the school.

 

9:12am

9:08am

9:06am

9:06am

9:06am

Our reporter Katie Clark is currently there and has been tweeting updates this morning.

9:05am

Scores of emergency vehicles are around the blaze in the school’s theatre block.

9:05am

Good morning. Around 50 firefighters are currently dealing with a blaze at Lytchett Minster School. A huge plume of smoke could be seen for miles.

This is the second of two major blazes in Dorset this morning. The first is at the Cliff End Hotel in Boscombe. We'll have a piece online about that very shortly.

Comments(42)

Sue001 says...
9:34am Thu 27 Dec 12

I live nearby and was woken up around 6am with thunder and lightening overhead, my power went out. Wonder if the school was struck by lightning?

Report this post »

Biatche says...
9:55am Thu 27 Dec 12

:( i remember the last fire there like it was yesturday aswell, that school has no luck it has had lightening strike there before aswell

Report this post »

Cordite says...
10:08am Thu 27 Dec 12

Absolutely devastated. I have a distraught child who has spent over 100 hours on art work which is now all lost.

Did this building not have sprinklers or at least an addressable fire alarm system which is monitored 24 hours?

Report this post »

poolemaninscotland says...
10:38am Thu 27 Dec 12

More importantly I must applaud the fire brigade who have worked under testing conditions this morning to contain the fire. Maybe if there hadnt been another fire being dealt with in Bournemouth at the same time then there would have been more than one aerial platform at the scene. Most unfortunate but looks like another tragedy due to the force of nature.

Report this post »

poolemaninscotland says...
10:55am Thu 27 Dec 12

I stand corrected as i believe there were two aerial platforms in attendance. Sorry

Report this post »

jordon skinner says...
10:55am Thu 27 Dec 12

Do u Know if i can get to the coutyard center

Report this post »

DizzyIzzy says...
11:01am Thu 27 Dec 12

Thats my school and the building is Purbeck and im in Purbeck, so i will be in porta cabins for like ages :(

Report this post »

Miss Opinionated says...
11:03am Thu 27 Dec 12

Cordite wrote:
Absolutely devastated. I have a distraught child who has spent over 100 hours on art work which is now all lost.

Did this building not have sprinklers or at least an addressable fire alarm system which is monitored 24 hours?
Did you choose your name before today? Seems in poor taste or ironic....

Report this post »

DizzyIzzy says...
11:04am Thu 27 Dec 12

My locker will be wrecked :( everyone's work for GCSE will be ruined that they have done.........all the records, my tutor ......

Report this post »

stalisman says...
11:25am Thu 27 Dec 12

Our hound woke us up trying to hide behind the bedside table, then a few moments later amongst the winds a heavy down fall of rain. Then as I dropped off again a flash and a short while later the sound of distant thunder. The timing fits and such a strike could well have incapacitated any electrical circuitry almost instantly .. well within a dirac second or two.

Report this post »

lynz_51 says...
11:34am Thu 27 Dec 12

I'm a former pupil of the school and was there during the 2000 fire - I think a little more perspective needs to be taken; I'm thankful that no students were present personally - any coursework can be dealt with, any exams moved - the school is run excellently, and I personally feel gutted for the admin staff who perform such a an excellent function on a day to basis, and have worked tirelessly to recover from the 2000 fire. Sprinklers would hardly have touched the fire - you can tell from the damage, and if it is potentially lightening that caused the fire to start, it's an unfortunate, upsetting, unavoidable event. My thoughts to those that have coursework etc concerns as my brother was in the same boat - but please don't panic about such things, there are always means and ways around it. Well done to the fire service for putting in such a gallant effort.

Report this post »

Dee1974 says...
11:50am Thu 27 Dec 12

There is an active fire alarm system which is why the brigade got here so quickly. If they hadn't it could have been far worse.

Report this post »

stalisman says...
12:05pm Thu 27 Dec 12

I must admit that I feel for the students most in this. It is hard to believe that this goalpost changing government will strive in any earnest towards fairness. The results of an individual's efforts constitute an art form as valuable to the person as the Mona Lisa is to the World.

Report this post »

The site man says...
12:14pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Whyat a shame horrible Christmas present for the Staff and students
if any good is to come out opf this don,t
let the bean counters get involved this building should be ReBuilt as soon as possible perhaps we should get the builders who done the olympics dorset county should not drag there heels I have a Daughter at the school I shall be supporting the school in whatever way I can

Report this post »

The site man says...
12:16pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Forgot to add once again our firefighters have performed despite this
goverments cuts
Well done and Thankyou

Report this post »

hali banks says...
12:17pm Thu 27 Dec 12

this morning i wake up and go on my laptop by 10:00 it was all over face book i came here for more info as im a year 7 student new to the school and this was my fafretbilding i fell sorry for the music art and drama teachers who have spent meny houres on there work and ofcoures were will these subjects be held?? i was crying dont know how ill be able to go back ! i loved that part of the school it will be missed.

Report this post »

Dorsetbaby says...
12:21pm Thu 27 Dec 12

I am devastated for the whole school. My son is in year 8 and is gutted. This is an outstanding school. I am so very sad for all the hard work that has been put in by the pupils for their exams. Which has now all been lost. All I can say is thank the lord that no one was in the building. Lets just hope that it doesn't take so long to rebuild it this time. My other children had to work from portable classroom for years. I feel very sad for all the children that will now miss out on the use of this beautiful building. Hope this does not affect our childrens education for too long.

Report this post »

scienceboy says...
12:25pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Will this echo the travesties of the Summer 2000 fire when the Science block burnt to the ground? After that the Science classrooms were relocated into shoddy, mouldy, cold, damp and totally inadequate mobile classrooms at the end of the muddy school playing field for NINE YEARS.

I doubt it, Lytchett School focuses ALL of their love, care and attention to students who do arts, drama, music and sports, as they are the ones who look good in the statistics and papers. They won't be forgotten like the science students were for almost a decade.

From a very disgruntled ex-Lytchett Science student.

Report this post »

Roband65 says...
12:30pm Thu 27 Dec 12

stalisman wrote:
I must admit that I feel for the students most in this. It is hard to believe that this goalpost changing government will strive in any earnest towards fairness. The results of an individual's efforts constitute an art form as valuable to the person as the Mona Lisa is to the World.
What has it got to do with the goverment it was a lightning strike !

Report this post »

stalisman says...
12:44pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Roband65 wrote:
stalisman wrote:
I must admit that I feel for the students most in this. It is hard to believe that this goalpost changing government will strive in any earnest towards fairness. The results of an individual's efforts constitute an art form as valuable to the person as the Mona Lisa is to the World.
What has it got to do with the goverment it was a lightning strike !
the way in which various choices are made in the outcome .. one can not feel assured that the current government has anyone's best interests at heart let alone those requiring justice and fairness.

Report this post »

The Timelord says...
1:04pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Shocked from the video evidence that such an apparently modern building could burn so easily and completely.

Report this post »

heartbeat123 says...
1:24pm Thu 27 Dec 12

This is truly devastating, i'm a pupil at Lytchett Minster school. When i logged on to facebook, my newsfeed was filled with 'Oh no, Lytchett is on fire' and every one is so upset! All of our course work, gsce work, A-level work is gone, hours of hard work put in for nothing. The recording equipment, drama rooms, instruments, theatre is gone and will be missed.

Report this post »

GAHmusic says...
5:12pm Thu 27 Dec 12

DizzyIzzy wrote:
My locker will be wrecked :( everyone's work for GCSE will be ruined that they have done.........all the records, my tutor ......
Well start with English then. The s on the end of everyones in your sentance is possesive so remember that for your GCSE or you'll be marked down. :-)

Report this post »

John T says...
5:31pm Thu 27 Dec 12

GAHmusic wrote:
DizzyIzzy wrote:
My locker will be wrecked :( everyone's work for GCSE will be ruined that they have done.........all the records, my tutor ......
Well start with English then. The s on the end of everyones in your sentance is possesive so remember that for your GCSE or you'll be marked down. :-)
And you'll get a sentEnce for misspelling. :0)

Report this post »

GAHmusic says...
5:33pm Thu 27 Dec 12

John T wrote:
GAHmusic wrote:
DizzyIzzy wrote:
My locker will be wrecked :( everyone's work for GCSE will be ruined that they have done.........all the records, my tutor ......
Well start with English then. The s on the end of everyones in your sentance is possesive so remember that for your GCSE or you'll be marked down. :-)
And you'll get a sentEnce for misspelling. :0)
I never claimed I could spell :-)

Report this post »

MJD says...
5:46pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Sorry to here all there work has been destroyed. This could have been adverted if in the last rebuild they had fitted sprinklers. Put it down to penny pinching ???

Report this post »

John T says...
5:49pm Thu 27 Dec 12

GAHmusic wrote:
John T wrote:
GAHmusic wrote:
DizzyIzzy wrote:
My locker will be wrecked :( everyone's work for GCSE will be ruined that they have done.........all the records, my tutor ......
Well start with English then. The s on the end of everyones in your sentance is possesive so remember that for your GCSE or you'll be marked down. :-)
And you'll get a sentEnce for misspelling. :0)
I never claimed I could spell :-)
Your gramma ain't up to much, either; but I guess what she does, is her own business:))

Report this post »

Cordite says...
6:34pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Miss Opinionated wrote:
Cordite wrote:
Absolutely devastated. I have a distraught child who has spent over 100 hours on art work which is now all lost.

Did this building not have sprinklers or at least an addressable fire alarm system which is monitored 24 hours?
Did you choose your name before today? Seems in poor taste or ironic....
Yes, I have had it for about two years.

It seemed a good name at the time living a stones throw from the school and a old bomb making factory.

I have a 6th former who has lost all A level work. Many have also lost GCSE work.

Report this post »

dribydal says...
10:33pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Cordite wrote:
Absolutely devastated. I have a distraught child who has spent over 100 hours on art work which is now all lost.

Did this building not have sprinklers or at least an addressable fire alarm system which is monitored 24 hours?
How selfish. Yes it is a shame that some coursework has been lost, but if you have a child at the school you should be grateful that no-one was killed or seriously injured. Can you imagine the potential consequences if this had happened during school hours instead of at 6am in the holidays.The school does have a fire monitoring system which is why the fire service could attend so quickly. You should be thanking them for risking their lives saving the rest of the school rather than moaning about some missing coursework.

Report this post »

Yankee1 says...
11:07pm Thu 27 Dec 12

No school deserves this..twice...we must do everything to support this great school!

Report this post »

elfinia says...
5:14am Fri 28 Dec 12

I woke up in the early hours ( about 5am to the loudest crack of thunder I have ever heard. I thought a jumbo jet had crashed nearby....as it was just one huge bomb like crack....but then the rain came pouring down and I knew it was a freak thunderstorm.

such a huge bang with kind of a "rush" before. weird.

sad for those affected bythe fires.

Report this post »

The-Bleeding-Obvious says...
10:51am Fri 28 Dec 12

Looks as if the building was built along the same lines as a 'skimpy starter home'....roof made out of recycled cardboard and paper!

Report this post »

username is already in use says...
11:34am Fri 28 Dec 12

You cannot tame Gods fury.

Report this post »

bea says...
11:41am Fri 28 Dec 12

I understand Dorset County Council decided not to install a sprinkler system because of cost. Great saving!

Report this post »

burgerboy says...
12:05pm Fri 28 Dec 12

DizzyIzzy wrote:
Thats my school and the building is Purbeck and im in Purbeck, so i will be in porta cabins for like ages :(
can't reed and rite very well but i can draw good pictures .

Report this post »

John T says...
12:13pm Fri 28 Dec 12

burgerboy wrote:
DizzyIzzy wrote:
Thats my school and the building is Purbeck and im in Purbeck, so i will be in porta cabins for like ages :(
can't reed and rite very well but i can draw good pictures .
burgerboy

if you can like draw munny from bankz or guvment you shud be set for live then. kool

Report this post »

Derf says...
3:44pm Fri 28 Dec 12

I take it they don't fit new school buildings with lightning conductors these days...

Report this post »

Arjay says...
4:19pm Fri 28 Dec 12

bea wrote:
I understand Dorset County Council decided not to install a sprinkler system because of cost. Great saving!
As the fire started in the roof. I doubt that a sprinkler system would have had much (if any) effect on the outcome.
The decision to not fit a sprinkler system may well have been on the grounds of cost - although it may also have been made on the grounds of effectiveness. Sprinkler systems can cause a lot of damage themselves!

It is sad that so many children will be affected at this important part of their lives - although I imagine that, in this modern age, much of the work will be backed up elsewhere. That may not apply to the visual artworks of course, and that loss is very sad for those involved.

We should primarily be thankful that no one was in the building at the time.......

There's no need for any rebuilding to take 9 years, as did the science block replacement. Whether it will of course is a different matter.
That will largely be down to the calibre of people assigned to the task.
If they have the same ethos as the school folk involved here, then it should be sooner, rather than later....

Report this post »

LornaBournemouth says...
12:16am Sat 29 Dec 12

Miss Opinionated wrote:
Cordite wrote:
Absolutely devastated. I have a distraught child who has spent over 100 hours on art work which is now all lost.

Did this building not have sprinklers or at least an addressable fire alarm system which is monitored 24 hours?
Did you choose your name before today? Seems in poor taste or ironic....
Devastated? That's a wee bit extreme. Just be grateful that there were no injuries or deaths.

Report this post »

LornaBournemouth says...
12:20am Sat 29 Dec 12

Cordite wrote:
Miss Opinionated wrote:
Cordite wrote:
Absolutely devastated. I have a distraught child who has spent over 100 hours on art work which is now all lost.

Did this building not have sprinklers or at least an addressable fire alarm system which is monitored 24 hours?
Did you choose your name before today? Seems in poor taste or ironic....
Yes, I have had it for about two years.

It seemed a good name at the time living a stones throw from the school and a old bomb making factory.

I have a 6th former who has lost all A level work. Many have also lost GCSE work.
Get over it you silly woman! God forbid if you should ever have a real crisis!

Report this post »

Cordite says...
11:08am Sat 29 Dec 12

LornaBournemouth wrote:
Cordite wrote:
Miss Opinionated wrote:
Cordite wrote:
Absolutely devastated. I have a distraught child who has spent over 100 hours on art work which is now all lost.

Did this building not have sprinklers or at least an addressable fire alarm system which is monitored 24 hours?
Did you choose your name before today? Seems in poor taste or ironic....
Yes, I have had it for about two years.

It seemed a good name at the time living a stones throw from the school and a old bomb making factory.

I have a 6th former who has lost all A level work. Many have also lost GCSE work.
Get over it you silly woman! God forbid if you should ever have a real crisis!
Too many TROLLS on this forum now making assumptions, so feeding time is over.

Report this post »

LMS Student says...
3:27pm Sun 30 Dec 12

This is my school. I'm a year 8 student. Every time I look at footage it makes me upset. I'll find it hard to go back. This building had my favourite lessons in it. This building will be sorely missed. Goodbye Purbeck house :-(

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree