Southport State High School clean up job begins following destructive fire

Dozens of workers are on scene at Southport State High School as the principal grapples with the scale of the damage caused by a destructive fire earlier this week.

A large fire tore through Southport State High School in the early hours of Friday morning. Picture: Luke Mortimer

THE principal of a Gold Coast school where a fire destroyed a block of classrooms earlier this week has said he’s heartened by the messages of support from the community.

Southport State High School’s B Block was badly damaged as a blaze ripped through the building about 2.30am yesterday.

In a post on the Southport SHS Facebook page, executive principal Nigel Hughes described the events as “a terrible incident” and is uncertain if the school will return to normal operation on Tuesday when students and teachers return for Term 4.

He said the site has been a “hive of activity” as workers clear the debris and fix fallen structures.

LONG WEEKEND KEEPS EMERGENCY SERVICES BUSY

A large fire tore through Southport State High School in the early hours of Friday morning. Picture: Luke Mortimer

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“While our army of contractors are doing an amazing job, at this stage we’re still not certain if our school will be ready for regular classes on Tuesday,” Mr Hughes said in the post.

“We will make that decision later this weekend when we know that we have all the required approvals in train.

“Our focus at the moment is squarely on getting us back to school as early as it is safe to do so.

“As you can imagine there are significant logistics involved in an exercise of this magnitude in such a short space of time and we need to have all the new buildings installed and certified before we can occupy them.”

Mr Hughes said he was uplifted by the messages of support from the community that have come through since the incident.

HOT WEATHER COMING FOR COAST AS FIRE BAN ISSUED

Principal Nigel Hughes posted this message on social media earlier today, thanking the community for its support.

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“Our school grounds are a hive of activity with over 40 workers and heavy construction equipment on site busily clearing debris and installing new buildings to replace the learning and staff spaces that we have lost.

“It is times like these that make us proud to be part of the Queensland State School system.

“We have had tremendous support from our Department, QBuild and the dozens of contractors that have given up their long weekend to help us recover from this event.

“Although this has been a terrible event for our school community, I’ve been greatly heartened by the level of support and kindness shown by the local community.

“I’ve been in regular contact with school staff over the weekend and we’re all greatly appreciative of your messages of support.”

Police suspect arson could be the cause of the blaze as investigations continue.