900 students and staff have been evacuated from Belmont High School, after a fire broke out in the woodworking room at the school earlier today.
The alarm was raised shortly after midday, when a dust extractor caught fire.
9 Fire crews arrived to find smoke issuing from the building, and breathing apparatus was used to enter the premises and extinguish the fire.
Police and Ambulance also attended, with 3 teachers and 4 students assessed for smoke inhalation.
There were no reports of injuries.
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As a student who was at school and in the building near the one that was on fire I can say that there was definitely a lot of panic when that bell went off. With most students and staff originally thinking it was an assembly or a lockdown you can imagine how frantic (especially with the juniors) things were when it was realised that it was a real evacuation emergency. We spent 1.5-2 hours on the oval waiting for the all clear to go back to the rest of the school and when we did many students ended up going home. As would be imagined, the smell when we were allowed back to the quad was horrible, slightly sickening even. The building has been blocked off and no access is allowed at the moment. My friend’s class was in the room at the time and were the ones to discover the smoking extractor, I can confirm that no one is injured and all students and staff are safe.