FOUR classrooms, a recreational room and library were destroyed during a fire at the Ba School for Special Education yesterday.
A witness at the scene, Ratu Nacani Sitima, said the blaze broke out about 9am.
“The fire spread very quickly and people in neighbouring properties began to take precautions in case the fire spread,” the 29-year-old said.
“Lucky the wind was quite strong and blowing the flames in the opposite direction to the houses that are there.”
In a statement, the National Fire Authority said it was alerted at 10.54am and arrived at the scene at 10.58am.
The NFA said all 40 students were safely removed from the school.
“The fire crew then quickly used one delivery of water from their fire truck to extinguish the fire,” said NFA.
“A truck from the Lautoka Fire Station was also at the scene to fight the fire.
“The fire is believed to have started from a classroom which was vacant at that time.
“The firefighters managed to save the main office and two classrooms, one of which was the school’s computer lab.
“The regular fire drills conducted at the school greatly contributed to the safe evacuation of the schoolchildren.
“NFA will soon be conducting its investigations to determine the cause of the fire.”
Attempts to obtain comments from school headteacher Ana Tuiova were unsuccessful.
