After school fire, officials to meet on Mon to allocate funds for safety steps
Times of India | 3 March 2024
Kolkata: Officials at Lee Memorial Mission School at Raja Subodh Mullick Square off Lenin Sarani, where a fire broke out in the girls’ hostel on Friday, will meet on Monday to discuss allocation of funds for the implementation of fire safety measures.
The fire department urged the school authorities to install fire-safety devices and ensure certain measures are implemented to prevent a blaze in future.“This is a govt school and a procedure has to be followed for funds. A meeting is slated for Monday to get the budget approved. The school officials have had a discussion with the fire department,” said a school education department official.
After the blaze and a survey, a fire officer said they have recommended basic fire safety measures that would help ensure safety for the children and staff members alike. “Some of the fire extinguishers are past the expiry date. Those need to be replaced. We have also advised on increasing the water reservoir capacity,” said the officer.
The fire had broken out in Room 8 in the girls’ hostel in the afternoon, at a time, when the room was locked and no boarder was inside. While the fire department was alerted, teachers and other staff members evacuated the students and boarders to an adjoining ground till the fire was doused. No one was injured.
The power connection has since been snapped and so, water supply has been affected. But a section of day students attended classes on Saturday. “We have spacious classrooms with big windows with enough sunlight. We are not letting the incident or the power-snap hamper studies,” said a teacher. “Electric supply officials inspected and we expect power to be restored soon.”
The officials are also likely to decide on the repairs of the damaged portions.