Essex school forced to close after being ‘struck by lightning’ and catching fire

Chelmer Valley High School in Broomfield, Essex, was forced to close after a thunderstorm caused a lightning strike and fire at the school on Tuesday, June 23 as temperatures soared

A secondary school has been forced to shut its doors following power cuts triggered by a thunderstorm. It’s believed that lightning struck the roof of a building at Chelmer Valley High School in Broomfield, Essex sparking a blaze.

A report from the location revealed that fire alarms sounded at approximately 8.30am, with pupils evacuating the premises and gathering on the school field for two hours before returning to their classrooms.

The school grounds have since been declared safe by firefighters following an assessment conducted earlier today, though certain areas of the school remain unusable until normal operations are restored.

Parents and carers have been requested to collect their children or permit them to make their own way home, reports Essex Live.

The school is operating with partial closure today and will be completely shut tomorrow to enable repairs to be completed as swiftly as possible.

Online learning will be arranged, with Essex County Council emphasising that pupil welfare remains of “paramount” significance.

A spokesperson for Essex County Council said: “We are aware that Chelmer Valley High School has been forced to partially close today (23 June) due to an outage following last night’s thunderstorm.

“The school has been deemed safe following a visit by the fire service, some parts of the building cannot be used until normal functions have been restored.

“Parents and guardians have been asked to collect their children, or provide permission for their children to travel home, while contractors work to bring the school’s systems back online.

“The difficult decision has been taken to close the school tomorrow (24 June) to ensure the works can be carried out as efficiently and quickly as possible.

“Remote learning will be provided during this time and parents and guardians will be kept up to date on the progress of the works. The safety and wellbeing of pupils is of paramount importance.”

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