00:00Parents of over 430 students of the Canaan Presbyterian Primary School in Duncan Village, San Fernando,
00:08are today grateful that a fire which destroyed multiple infants and lower standard classrooms did not occur during school hours.
00:17According to Assistant Chief Fire Officer South Lalchan Arjun, fire officers received a call around 4.16am and arrived within
00:27minutes.
00:27They reached within five minutes time, they were able to reach and I must commend them.
00:34They did a great job in keeping the fire more on the northern side of the single-story building, right?
00:41I think it was the infant classes were involved, right?
00:44So they would have quickly knocked down the fire and prevented from spreading to other parts of the building.
00:51At the time, he says one MTS security officer was on the compound.
00:56He adds he was informed that the school has a population of 23 staff members and 439 students.
01:04The assistant fire chief says while the fire prevention unit is investigating the cause of the blaze, he gave a
01:12preliminary assessment.
01:13We haven't gotten any information to suggest that anybody from outside would have came and set the building on fire.
01:22We haven't gotten any information on that.
01:23What I know from the interviews this morning, the school would have been, the school is about 60 years old.
01:29The roof of the school is galvanized iron sheet timber construction with plywood as a ceiling.
01:37My preliminary observation is that the fire may have started in the roof ceiling compartment of those classrooms.
01:44While that is the area of origin, he says the ongoing investigation will determine the cause and point of origin.
01:52It could be possible, a possible electrical fault at the school, right?
01:59Those wires are running to the building.
02:01The school is old.
02:02You may have a rocks and so forth in the ceiling.
02:07We're not sure.
02:09And over a while, over a while, those wires and things degenerate.
02:13Those wires and things degenerate.
02:15Sometimes you could get possible overloading, short circuiting and things.
02:18In response, the Presbyterian Primary School's Board of Education advised parents to liaise with their children's respective class teachers for
02:27updates on school operations and the resumption of classes.
02:32While the Minister of Education, Dr. Michael Dowlatt, says the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service is conducting a comprehensive assessment
02:41of the school compound with a detailed report expected by Wednesday, 21st October.
02:47And as a precaution, access to the school will remain restricted pending the necessary clearance from the fire service.
02:55In the meantime, the Ministry of Education says they are coordinating with the school to find alternative arrangements to minimise
03:04disruption to students' education,
03:06with a structured programme being developed to facilitate the distribution of schoolwork from Monday, 19th to Wednesday, 21st October.
03:16Meanwhile, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Arjun gave some general advice on Friday, advocating for the proper maintenance of electrical systems.
03:26From your point of entrance by your home, that is your responsibility.
03:30Point of entrance from the school, that is the school responsibility.
03:32Tiantic would look at the external alarm, wiring and so forth, your telephone lines and so forth.
03:38So you must have a proper operating system, right?
03:42In this country, every five years, the Tiantic, or the electrical inspectorates, just asks us to, you know, do an
03:52inspection of our home, our school, our business places to ensure that the wiring and thing is in good condition.
03:57We ask it not to overload electrical circuits.
04:01We ask it to use the UL-listed extension cords.
04:06Cindy Ragubantika Singh, TV6 News.
04:11Thank you, Cand wiunsendor, of course.
04:14.
04:14.
04:14.
04:14Good question.
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