By Sarah McPhee
Bondi Beach Public School will be closed for the rest of the week after a fire broke out in a classroom on Wednesday afternoon.
A Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) spokesman said they were called shortly before 5pm to smoke and flames issuing from a school building on Warners Avenue, Bondi.
A NSW Department of Education spokesperson on Wednesday night said at the time of the fire there were more than 50 students and three staff members at the school’s after-hours care service and all were accounted for.
The school will be shut for onsite learning on Thursday and Friday.
“Parents have been informed that students will be learning from home for the next two days,” the spokesperson said. “The Department will keep parents and the school community informed of any further developments.”
Earlier, police had said: “More than 50 children who were in the school grounds at the time were evacuated by staff without incident.”
Photographs and video of the fire posted to social media showed a thick stream of smoke over Bondi.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said four crews were dispatched to the scene but there were no reports of injuries.
Paramedics assessed police who had entered the building and were possibly suffering smoke inhalation.
“Two officers were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation but did not require further treatment,” police said.
“FRNSW crews from across Sydney City and the eastern suburbs have contained a school fire on Warners Ave,” a spokesman said on social media shortly after 6pm.
“Heavy fire conditions were found in one classroom. Crews will extinguish the fire and investigate the cause.”
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clarification
An earlier version of this story said the number of students at the school’s after-hours care service at the time of the fire was approximately 130. This figure provided by the NSW Department of Education was incorrect. There were more than 50 students there.