Fire unites Ararat community
Ararat West Primary School principal Terry Keilar has praised the community for its overwhelming support in the wake of a ‘devastating’ fire that destroyed five classrooms at the weekend.
Mr Keilar said teachers and other school leaders were focused on providing a sense of normality for students, who returned to school at Ararat College on Monday.
He said students would attend classes at the college until at least tomorrow, although the temporary arrangement would remain in place until it was safe to return to the Ararat West site.
“The kids are very resilient and they are coping well,” he said.
“Being able to relocate to the college means we haven’t had any interruptions to their learning, which has been great.
“The teachers and the whole school community have been very supportive. Children pick up on that and are coping really well with the adjustments and changes this has brought.”
Ararat West Primary School has 216 students enrolled at its Knee Bone Street campus.
Mr Keilar said the burnt wing catered for about 130 students from grades three to six.
“The school has two wings. The fire burnt one of them, destroying five classrooms and an art room along with storage rooms and resources,” he said.
“You can imagine how much damage has been done and how much we’ve lost.
“We are providing regular updates to the community about how we are making the school safe and the cleanup process.”
Mr Keilar thanked everyone who had offered assistance during such a difficult time.
“The support we’ve had from Ararat College, the Department of Education, Student Support Services and the school and wider community has been brilliant,” he said.
“One of the positives to come out of this sad event is the overwhelming support of the Ararat community, including people who are not connected to the school. Their outreach and willingness to help in any way has been phenomenal and is very much appreciated.
“It is good to see people banding together after something so devastating for our school community.”
One of three
About 50 firefighters battled the blaze at the school, which occurred about 1.30am on Saturday morning.
Country Fire Authority vehicles from Ararat, Avoca, Ballarat City, Beaufort, Great Western, Langi Logan, Moyston, Stawell and Warrak attended.
The fire was one of three to occur in the rural city in the past week.
Firefighters attended a blaze in an abandoned building at the corner of Lowe and Queen streets about 7.30pm on Thursday.
On Sunday, crews battled a house fire in Tuson Street from about 7.15pm.
Victoria Police Acting Inspector David Ellis said no one was injured in any of the fires, however all buildings experienced extensive damage.
He said the cause of the fires was yet to be determined, although police did not believe any of the incidents were linked.
Acting Insp. Ellis said police would continue to investigate the fires.
“Police take any potentially deliberate or reckless acts of arson in the community very seriously and we will be thoroughly investigating each of these incidents,” he said.
“If you see someone trying to light a fire please call triple zero for an immediate response.”
Acting Insp. Ellis encouraged anyone with information about arsonrelated behaviour to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www. crimestoppersvic.com.au to make a confidential report.