Penyrheol Comprehensive School (where I used to do an evening football class, and a team which our school rugby team played against regularly) has been razed to the ground by fire.
Mum lives very near to the school and noticed “what looked like a house on fire” at about 01:30 and was about to call the emergency services when she saw blue lights so observed the events as they unfolded.
Two hours later (03:30) in gale force easterly winds, the fire continued to blaze – Emergency services swarmed all over the local roads to the west of the school, sensibly keeping out of the smoke when it’s not necessary.
Mum reported seeing people up ladders and hearing things exploding.
By 05:00 the fire was under control, but extensive damage had occurred. A large proportion of the school has been razed: science, business, computing, staff areas, dining rooms & kitchens all flat to the ground.
Surviving the fire
The Leisure Centre which adjoins the school to the east (a favourite for kids birthday parties) has slight smoke damage. The English and Maths departments have survived, but a lot of coursework and school records have been lost. There is some hope that work which teachers and kids did on computers (including assignments and grades) is likely to exist in different forms on home computers, laptops and on backup disks in various places, so it’s not as complete a loss as it would have been just a few years ago.
Photos
Clicking on each photo will take you to a flickr (photo sharing) page where you can download high resolution copies.
Press Coverage
The story has been picked up by the BBC, and as other agencies publish reports, they’ll be listed here (archived stories here).
Google Earth Location / Model
This is a Google Earth placemark which identifies the school’s location, and includes a (fairly simple) 3d model of the former building illustrating what’s been destroyed.
Previous Fire
The school was rebuilt in 1976 after a fire destroyed the previous buildings. A couple of photo’s of that fire are available on the web at the Gorseinon History Archive (here and here).
Well covered, Rich. Excellent 3D model Great pics from Andy Caie!
Such a tradgedy for the GCSE kids in particular, and for everyone in the community.
However, the school survived and thrived after lightening did its damage last time.
Good luck to everyone in the second Phoenix struggle
The good news is that some 400 GCSE students have been able to return to the lesser damaged parts of the school today to resume their studies, twelve days after the conflagration
i feel awful for everyone there! My year was the year that left last september…they were the best 5 years of my life! my sis is now in year 8 and isnt going back until May 2nd….we’ve been planning some fundraisers and are waiting for the school to get back to us! =)
The school is to be rebuilt on the same site, this time with a sprinkler system.
The firemen who bravely fought the fire are now busy fundraising to replace lost equipment. They have handed over a cheque for £1663 raise washing cars in the Somerfield carpark in Gorseinon last week, and from donations from shoppers.
Donations are coming in from various sources. HSBC and Western Power have each pledged £1000, and Cefn Hengoed School has donated furniture.
Members of the public are being asked to donate their Tesco Computers for Schools vouchers to help to re-equip the school.
A series of fundraising activities his being organised. They can be EMailed at
penyrheolfriends@aol.com
and up to date info can be found at
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/penyrheol
And the good news for the local kids is that the swimming pool has been reopened.
I couldn’t believe that the school had burnt!!! I was gutted!!! Me and my mates were chatting about for ages and when i went to see it i cried!!
:(:(:(:(
I so couldn’t belive it, it was there 1 minute and then it was gone but its cool now we’ll all bk at skool and r working (gutted but never mind) and now we r all happy
I was a pupil at penyrheol and it was my last year at the school and i lost alot of work that day im lucky that i can still get the grades i want because of the loss. I really am going to miss the school the was it usto be but i can garantee that i WILL be there for the grand opening of the new penyrheol comp. Im gonna miss it. =(
The end of the school year brought the happy sounds of the School Sports Day floating through the warm air earlier this week. Now the pile drivers have moved in …. the phoenix is beginning to flutter in there! Hooray!
Hiya! x
I am not a member of this school but i do feel so sorry for the kids that go, My school i am moving up too has bin burnt down aswell, but since then it has fully recoverd and i hope yours will too!
Billie manners, 11 years of age, nottingham, england
Glad to report that the school has reopened with all pupils now back on one campus, albeit in prefabricated temporary classrooms.
Meanwhile the trial has started of two youngsters who are accused of having had a role to play in the devastation.
More info available from the South Wales Evening Post.
Hi,
I was shocked to find out that my old school had burnt down. I attended there from 76 through to 83 and the notable thing was that at the commencement of my first year, the same thing happened. This prevented us attending the school that year and we were based out at Loughor for the first year.
Good luck to everyone there, school, staff and pupils. Fond memories and happy times.
he is innocent n hes been found guilty 4 sumin that he didnt do!!!
he is guilty he has ruined our school and all the gcse work and all years 7,8,9′s work as well all the time we spend making stuff and do our work it’s all gone
Many people haven’t heard about the destroying blaze, however being one of near enough 1000 pupils I have had to face it straight on. The entire school is taught in demountables and a huge grey put together box which we call the ‘shoe box’. The buildings (demountables/portacabins) are perishing in the winter and scorching in the summer, with radiators the size of a small scanners, the rooms don’t heat up as well. Heat is lost through the windows,however if we didn’t have as many windows we would burn to a crisp in the summer. Being in Year 8 I don’t think we will ever get to experience the school in it’s true form,but I’m almost certain that the school will be amazing when it is finished.
At least the new building when it is eventually built will be fitted with a sprinkler system. Apparently, this cannot be funded from the insurance claim as there was no sprinkler system in place before the fire last year. (One has to ask the question “Why????”, since this is the second time this school has been destroyed by fire!) However, Swansea City Council has agreed to set aside the £300,000 needed for the installation…. Yet another burden on the local council taxpayers.
I was a member of Penyrheol until 1998, Gutted was not even the word when I drove past to see it had gone.
What people forget, is all of the pupils past and present have memories and achivements, and because of the actions of two very sad and probably worthless individuals all the hardwork that has been maintained over the years from sports teams, debate teams, art departments history and geography and languages as well as everything else that was held in the affectionately named ‘Tower Block’, including the Historic HeadBoy/Girl board has diminished.
I for one am very sad to have to witness that a great school now once again has to over come another horror story in its history, but then if all the pupils pitch in, the corridors will soon be ringing again but this time with the sounds of eagar voices and not alarm bells.
News today that the new school will be completed in time for opening in September 2009. The details can be found here: http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=17737
Jonathan has been found guilty of a crime he did not , I think its dam right appauling to give him 6 years and the person who enterd the building with him and had previous arson related issue’s while attending that school got away scot free!
More news of building proposals can be found here:
http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=161818&command=displayCont
Info from Swansea city & County Council today at http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=20345
I know for a fact that Jonathan Giles IS INNOCENT because the sick little s**t that actually did burn down our school, is living with his family (that prob gave his the aliby) down the bottom of Gorseinon!
My i ask why he is allowed back to Gorseinon, even after being thought of the one to have burnt down the school. The system is sick, and he should’ve been sent down not Jonathan.
He doesn’t even walk out of his house without a family member! Coz he’s sooooo scared of what people might do coz they know the truth!!!!!
Latest info here: http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=20956
New announcement today from Swansea City Council here:
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=21494
New website being set up this week to cover the rebuilding of the school due to re-open next year.
Latest info about both the rebuild and the website.
Thought you might like an instant update…. follow the links for more info too:
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=24581
I was a pupil at the school, when it burnt down the first time in 1976, it really was quite unsettling for everyone, we hat to go to Loughor College and had to catch a lot of buses. How on earth could they rebuild a school without sprinklers? I was in the 2nd year when it happened and left after the lower 6th. Can´t really say I have really great memories of the “shuttle bus school”. It was really incredible to hear that the school burned once again. One of the good things was that the school offered German thanks to Mrs. Mitchell been I have living in Germany for 16 years and speak fluent German, I guess that it what inspired me the most. Vorsprung durch Mrs. Mitchell so to speak. Which means I get to go skiing and drive to Italy a lot. I only managed a C at O level, so I quess it was enough.
All the best for everyone affected by the problems and keep learning.
I am now learning italian!! Tanti saluti e arevedici