Hundreds of students were evacuated from their school when fire started in a classroom.
Around 200 pupils at Southend High School for Girls, in Southchurch Boulevard, Southend, collected outside the school at 8.01am today.
Two engines from Southend fire station went to the scene and praised school staff for their quick and efficient evacuation of students.
Station officer Daron Driscoll said: "When we arrived, the students were gathered outside the school and all were accounted for.
"There was smoke billowing from the side of one of the buildings where a fire had broken out in an art room."
Two firefighters wearing special equipment were sent in with high pressure hoses to tackle the blaze.
Station officer Driscoll said: "A teacher informed me chemicals and other highly flammable materials were stored in the room, which posed a risk to the firefighters.
"The fire was just 3ft away from a metal container used for storing chemicals.
"Luckily, the fire was put out quickly and did not spread."
Simon Caink, bursar at the school, said: "Luckily, the fire started before most of our students arrived and it was just a matter of making sure they did not go inside.
Published Wednesday, April 9, 2003
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