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Wangaratta Chronicle 130923

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www.wangarattachronicle.com.au

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Probing blaze which gutted former college building

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Large section of asbestos-filled building demolished after being extensively damaged by “possibly suspicious” fire BY RYAN MALCOLM rmalcolm@ nemedia.com.au

On Monday this week heavy machinery was used to tear down large sections of a 20m by 40m western building impacted by the blaze. At the height of the fire on Sunday, up to 25 CFA and Fire Rescue Victoria appliances were

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MAJOR CLEAN-UP: Firefighters donned protective gear on Monday as they assessed the aftermath of a serious blaze at Wangaratta’s former Ovens College the previous afternoon. The blaze at an asbestos-filled western building required almost 100 firefighters to bring the flames under control into Sunday night. PHOTO: Kurt Hickling

INVESTIGATIONS remain ongoing into a “possibly suspicious” fire at Wangaratta’s former Ovens College on Sunday afternoon, which saw almost 100 firefighters turn out in response. The asbestos-filled building burned for almost five hours, causing severe damage to large sections of the interior, exterior and roof of the abandoned school, after smoke was first seen emanating from the area around 2.30pm.

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on scene, as firefighters donned breathing apparatus to attack the fire both internally and externally before structural concerns forced a change of strategy. CFA District 23 command was also in attendance, and a warning was issued to nearby residents amid concerns the asbestos-filled building could be emitting toxic smoke. “We had the ground floor, which was the main part of the building (which) when we got here was where most of

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the fire activity was,” Wangaratta FRV station controller Rob Skase said. “We sent crews in to try and suppress the fire in that area, and they did a pretty good job and had almost managed to extinguish it, and then we noticed that it had actually dropped into a sub-floor area where there was a bit of a storage area and there was a variety of flammable materials that had been stored down there. ■ Continued page 3

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