Disaster averted at Ickenham school thanks to staff fire training
The headmaster of a school in Ickenham in Middlesex has credited excellent staff fire safety training with preventing disaster after a fire broke out in mysterious circumstances.
Martin Rainsford explained to the Uxbridge Gazette that the fire started in the sixth form common room of the Douay Martyrs School on Friday 4th February at around 2.45pm. At the time of speaking to the newspaper, the cause of the fire was still unknown.
He said that a quick-thinking member of staff spotted the fire and called the emergency services, as well as notifying colleagues of the incident so that the school could be rapidly evacuated. No one was hurt in the incident, which Mr Rainsford claims is down to excellent fire training and regular practice fire drills. He said:
“You rely on your procedures going well, and pupils evacuating sensibly which they did. We drill formally every term.
“It was the first time I have had to deal with an actual fire in 15 years as a headteacher, four of which have been at Douay Martyrs.”
The school building itself wasn’t so lucky, however. The school’s new roof buckled due to the flames, furniture was burnt and three classrooms were temporarily put out of action.