Arson suspected cause of fire at primary school in Kalgoorlie

November 11, 1996

Education Minister Colin Barnett today said he was horrified to learn that arson was suspected as the cause of a multi-million dollar fire at Hannans Primary School in Kalgoorlie this morning.

Mr Barnett has sent his wishes to the staff, students and parents associated with the school and ensured them that every endeavour was being made by the Education Department to accommodate their needs.

The school has an electronic security system which alerted security at the Education Department in Perth to a problem at the school just before 4 am.

Education Security sent a local Kalgoorlie-Boulder patrol immediately to the school which raised the alarm that buildings were on fire. The patrol is also believed to have disturbed people at the scene.

Mr Barnett said he was alarmed about the apparent deliberate nature of the fire. He said that the fire would disrupt the learning of the more than 470 children at the school.

"Today's fire is a tragedy for the whole school community," he said.

"Not only is it disruptive, but class records, students' work and teaching materials have all been destroyed."

Mr Barnett said this was the largest case of arson this year and the most costly school fire since the $3.5 million blaze which destroyed most of Toodyay District High School in 1993 .

The school is closed today while Education Department officials arrange to accommodate the students, using transportable classrooms and available space at other Kalgoorlie schools. Early estimations set a replacement value on the classrooms at around $2 million.

"One classroom block has been completely gutted, while a new block has been badly damaged with at least two classrooms burnt out," Mr Barnett said.

"The belief is that had it not been for an electronic security system at the school and the quick response from guards, the damage could have been much more severe."

Mr Barnett said that there were 436 schools around the State which had electronic security systems and more were due to come on-line this week. He said that in addition to efforts by the Education Department to ensure the security of schools, the community could also help.

"While electronic security systems are doing a good job containing vandalism in many schools, the Education Department also needs the assistance of local communities to report any suspicious activity around schools after hours," Mr Barnett said.

The Minister said that in the first 10 months of this year, it was estimated that vandalism at WA schools had cost the Education Department $1.4 million, including 13 cases of arson costing $500,000. This compared with an estimated $2.3 million in vandalism for the whole of last year, including 27 cases of arson.

Media contact: Justine Whittome (09) 222 9699