Swindon firefighters tackle village school blaze

Firefighters from Swindon and Royal Wootton Bassett were among crews who put out a village school blaze at Woodborough near Pewsey.

Crews from throughout the county were summoned, and Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service has thanked the community for its support.

During the incident, local people provided refreshments, the social club was opened as a rest area, and driveways were made available for vehicles to be parked.

Chief Fire Officer Ben Ansell said: “This was a large and complex incident, with firefighters working tirelessly to contain the fire, and protect and save as much of the school as possible. 

"We know this has had a significant impact on the community, and we were incredibly grateful for the support we received, not just within the village but from partners including Wiltshire Council and Wiltshire Police.”

“Our Education team is already in contact with the school to see how we can help the children come to terms with what has happened, and I know that local firefighters are also offering whatever help they can give to the recovery process.”

The majority of firefighters who attended the incident – who also included personnel from Pewsey, Devizes and Marlborough – are on-call, so were at home or working in their main jobs when their pagers went off.

Mr Ansell said: “Our service is predominantly rural, and we rely on people being willing to support the places where they live and work by being on-call firefighters. We are always looking for new recruits, so I would urge anyone interested in joining us to get in touch – more information is on our website. Not only can you earn some additional income, you can make a real difference to the lives of others.”

Following investigations, the service has concluded that Friday’s village school fire started accidentally in the roof, which had been undergoing building works.

Mr Ansell said: “Whenever there is a school fire, there is debate around whether the building should have had fire sprinklers, in no small part due to the devastation such incidents cause and the effects on the children, staff and the wider community. While sprinklers might not have prevented this fire from taking hold in the roof, they would have reduced the speed at which it spread and limited the damage caused before my firefighters arrived on scene. 

"As a service, we will continue to promote the installation of sprinklers in new and refurbished school buildings, and I know our fire safety team will be working with the management of Woodborough School to explore all available options for keeping the site safe from fire in the future.”

More information about the work of Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service can be found at www.dwfire.org.uk