Adjacent buildings affected by Wednesday’s inferno
SHILLONG: The fire incident at St. Peter’s School has exposed that the upkeep of the school was not upto the mark.
During the visit to the prominent school on the day of the fire incident, it was revealed that the wiring system of the school was in poor condition.
Moreover, the ceiling fans in some of the classrooms were positioned precariously from the ceiling posing danger to the students.
An electrical switch was found broken and tampered with and wires were found in a haphazard manner. The overall electrical equipment of the school was found to be in a deplorable condition.
The discovery of huge reserves of gas cylinders in the place which aggravated the situation at the administrative and residential block of the school is yet an unsolved mystery.
It may be reminded that St. Peter’s School is not new to any fire catastrophe as sources informed that this is not the first time that such an incident occurred here.
Neighbors affected
The devastating fire may have burnt down the school but the neighbouring houses were also affected in the fire that broke out at 4 am on Wednesday.
An immediate neighbor of the school, Jesto Mohan Roy Diengdoh, stated that his residential premises had a providential escape from the fire due to the timely arrival of fire services.
However, he rued that MUDA and PWD were caught up with the loss and damages of the school, but the authorities should have taken notice of the entire situation while assessing the loss and damages caused to his premises due to the fire.
Sources said that windows of neighbouring houses were affected due to the heat leading to breaking of glasses, wood, hedges and leaves of tress getting burnt prompting the neighbouring houses to come out and pour water to stop the spread of flames.