Fire ravages Mount Barker Waldorf School in Adelaide Hills
Several people on a school camp had to be evacuated as firefighters arrived to find a classroom in flames – just a day after a suspicious fire erupted at another private college.
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A suspicious fire has ravaged an Adelaide Hills school with firefighters arriving to find a classroom fully alight and billowing thick smoke on Tuesday morning.
It comes just a day after a suspicious fire erupted at another private college.
Just after 4am, Metropolitan Fire Service and Country Fire Service crews responded to the blaze on Sims Rd, Mount Barker, to find a classroom at the private Mount Barker Waldorf School an inferno.
Teachers on an interstate conference were sleeping on campus before the fire started, however none were in the vicinity of the blaze.
Mount Barker Waldorf School principal Liam Waterford told 9News the blaze was “fierce”.
“We’re very lucky that someone was able to recognise it and call it in before it got any further,” Mr Waterford said.
Seven appliances and two command cars attended the scene and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and using multiple high pressure lines battled to extinguish the fire and prevent it spreading.
The MFS issued a smoke warning for Hills residents, with thick black clouds coming from the southwest direction of the Sims Rd area.
Fire investigators have been called to the scene to determine a cause. However, police have called the fire “suspicious” and are appealing for anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
It comes after an investigation was launched into a suspicious fire at a private college in Port Pirie South in the early hours of Monday – the first day of the school holidays.
The fire started in a classroom on the secondary campus of St Mark’s College, at The Terrace, with reports of dense smoke and visible flames emanating from a building about 3.30am on Monday. Two boys, both 15, have since been arrested.
Meanwhile, firefighters also battled a blaze at Mylor near Aldgate in the Mount Lofty Ranges on Tuesday morning.
At just after 4am, a grass fire threatened to spread to nearby properties, however 30 CFS volunteers on seven trucks, supported by SA Police, contained the fire, preventing it from spreading.
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Originally published as Fire ravages Mount Barker Waldorf School in Adelaide Hills
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