Fire at Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview started by line marker

A private school on Sydney’s north shore is calculating a damage bill, expected to total about $500,000, after a line marker on charge sparked a fire in a storage shed.

A ritzy private school has suffered about $500,000 worth of damage after a large fire tore through the campus.

Emergency crews were called to Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview at Lane Cove in the early hours of this morning after a fire broke out in a school storage shed.

The flames tore through paint cans, paint thinner, a supply of petrol and a small maintenance vehicle before it spread to the roof.

The large-scale emergency response began about 3.45am and involved 16 fire engines called to the scene.

Fire crews wearing breathing masks attacked the blaze from multiple angles before managing to extinguish the fire by 5.30am.

A photo of the line marker in the aftermath of the fire

Fire and Rescue NSW investigators have since determined a line marking machine left on charge started the fire which caused an estimated $500,000 damage to the boarding school.

No-one was injured during the incident and no evacuations were necessary.

In a statement, a school spokesman said school operations continued as normal today and HSC examinations have also not been impacted.

Superintendent Adam Dewberry said it was a timely reminder that triple-0 for a fire emergency can be the difference between life and death, or a building or other property being saved or destroyed.