Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Page 30 text:

(Jeavons photo) THE At 7 a.m. on Sunday, June 26, fire engines wailed into the senior school playground. This was not an elaborate finale to the Duke of Edinburgh Fire Prevention course but the real thing. Smoke was pouring from most of the upper level of the school, particularly the assembly hall. The fire- men, some wearing breathing apparatus, were quickly inside, while the small crowd of onlookers were fearful that a large part of the school was about to be destroyed. It soon became apparent, however, that the huge clouds of smoke were misleading and that the actual fire was in only one part of the building. Mr. Stephenson proved this by emerging from the main door carrying the Geography O-Level papers. The firemen had succeeded, thanks to their prompt arrival, in containing the blaze to the assembly hall. They soon had this under control and the way was open for several teachers and parents to help move files and papers from the smoky office to the library. The upper corridor was black and reeking of smoke; inside the hall, there was a scene of devastation. Everything which could burn had done so. The stage, cedar table, school desks, chairs, the irreplaceable portraits of former headmasters — all gone with hardly a trace, leaving desk frames littering the blackened floor. A sad sight, not least for the firemen, many of whom were Saltus old boys. During the day, cleaning operations were carried out so that school could open the following day with the minimum of discomfort. By Monday morning, a temporary office had been set up in the library and room arrangements altered so that the school was able to begin examinations on time. It is fair to say that the boys responded sensibly to the situation. Many of them wrote exams in unlit rooms on a very dark morning, with the smell of stale smoke always present. The school managed to recover remarkably quickly from the initial blow. At time of writing the problem is to rebuild the destroyed facilities as soon as possible.

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Eric Marchais J5W ponders over a pawn Ancient Chinese puzzle PatrickWang J6B Is that my shirt or not? Annual clothes clear out Lisa Mello — one of the two remaining Is in tus ' Topping up the radiator Junior School Activities Chris SpurlingJSW overlooks his table top model Not as angelic as they look— M .. Nicholas Nickleby ' production Another one down the drain Marble hunting w -11 — - V Cavendish audience at the junior school enjoying Steeplejacks of the future Nicholas NickJeby (Beasley photo)