A fire erupted at the Bethel High School last Friday, only minutes before the Pan Against Crime (PAC) organization handed over a set of pans to the institution.{{more}}
A member of staff told SEARCHLIGHT that the fire was electrical in nature, and was caused by a refrigerator in the staff kitchenette.
During preparations for the handover, a crowd of students parted, to reveal an individual running with a red hose in hand. Shortly after, large clouds of smoke were seen escaping from one of the rooms above the auditorium.
Although onlookers believed that the fire had been put out, this seemed not to be the case as the school was subsequently evacuated in a quick and efficient manner.
A call was reportedly made to the fire department.
However, students, teachers and guests were later allowed to re-enter the building, and the handover proceeded.
PAC representative Assistant Superintendent of Police Jonathan Nichols was the man of the hour, and principal of the school Miriam Pompey thanked him for his help in extinguishing the fire, during her remarks at the handover.
âI want to publicly thank ASP Nichols for assisting us this morning. He worked and ensured that the fire was brought under control and he did that, risking his life, Pompey said.
She also noted that they were considerably lucky that the fire occurred when it did.
âThe Bible states that in everything, we must give thanks,â she said.
âOur main aim this morning was to render thanks to God for the gifts that we receivedâ¦we need to thank him that the incident that occurred this morning, happened this morning and not any other timeâ¦it could have been more serious and had it happened overnight, then we would have been looking for another place to house the schoolâ.
Also the master of ceremonies for the proceedings, Nichols commented on the incident.
âWhen you wake up on mornings, you never know what the day is going to produce,â he said.
âThis is why it is important to give God thanksâ¦the little incident this morning could have occurred when nobody was here, so letâs thank God that he has spared us any tragedyâ.
The fire was contained to the kitchenette, causing minimal damage to the school.(BK)
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