Monday, September 12, 2011

Oliver BC School Burns Down

Oliver Secondary School BC
At 2.00 am this morning the large Secondary School ( Senior High School in the old terminology) just south of here in Oliver started to burn down. Fire crews from all the neighboring towns were called in, but it is now all burned to the ground. It was built in 1948, and in those days a lot of wood was used in construction. So sad. About 350 students and staff have nowhere to go. The school was in the middle of renovations; they were building a new Gym and other facilities. Some speculated the fire started in a nearby dumpster or rubbish bin. We visited there last February and this is the only photo I have of part of the school.
Frank Venables ( 1899-1986) was born in Walsall England. He was amongst other things an orchardist, and more of his life history can be found here

4 comments:

Pat MacKenzie said...

I was talking about this today with my daughter, Mary, who lives in Oliver. It's very upsetting for the town. They don't know where the students will go now. I hope they work something out soon. It's always sad to lose an old historic building like that.

Anna at the Doll House said...

Hello Michael and Hanne

What a sad story and what a reminder of the destructive power of fire (and flood).

Thanks for visiting and leaving such a lovely comment.

Anna

H said...

How frustrating/upsetting! Do they suspect arson or was it accidental?

I hope the staff and students are sorted soon. This is going to disrupt their education somewhat.

Alan Burnett said...

How sad. Oddly enough, the local news here today is dominated about a school in Bradford which burnt down last night. There is a great spate of building new schools over here but I suspect the renewal is that of framework rather than content.