Gorden Secondary school Administration building damaged by fire

Acting Commander of Waigani fire station, Joseph Ungil confirmed that the challenges faced today to contain the fire at the Gorden secondary administration building was the unavailability of water source inside the school premises.

Ungil said the fire truck had to go back to Boroko fire station and refill four times before they contained the fire.

The acting Commander of Waigani fire station said the Waigani Fire station received the call at 7 am in the morning and arrived at the Gorden secondary school where they saw huge flames from the administration office.

About 20 fireman who drove to the location did an assessment of the wind direction and did fire break for offensive and defensive firefighting and saved the building extension part of the administration building.

“Because the school does not have the fire hydrant where they will source the water, they had to call for backup from Boroko Fire Station.

“The Waigani Fire Station fire truck contains only 3,000 liters of water and 200 foam. So the 3,000 liters of water, when you are using it at 500 kPa, in a second, 10 liters per second goes out and 10 liters per second at 500 or 300 kPa.” Ungil said.

Ungil said the Fire service has specialized inspectors to conduct fire cause investigation and will provide brief to Papua New Guinea Fire Service headquarters.

He also advised the school principal to barricade the scene so the fire investigators will come and do the investigation.

Meantime, the school principle George Kenega declined to comment on the incident.