The Saint Ignatius of Loyola, otherwise known as Lassia Tuolu Senior High School in the Upper East region, has temporarily been closed down after a fire gutted the school multipurpose dining hall complex.
The incident, which occurred during the wee hours of Saturday, burnt several properties of the school including 900 new desks, 500 pieces of dining tables and sets of benches, and several dozens of assorted food items valued at thousands of Ghana cedis.
Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the fire, which resulted in the destruction of both wooden and concrete structures used for storing food supplies.
There were no reported casualties.
“We realized that it was the hall that was on fire and so we rushed to the scene to put out the fire. Some of our masters were around and so they called the Fire Service who did not respond on time, but they came and controlled the situation,” a school prefect narrated the incident to Accra-based Asaase Radio.
“Now there is no food… This morning, we haven’t even taken our breakfast because of the situation and as you can see most of the final-year students are rushing to see authorities about the way forward.”
District Chief Executive (DCE) for Wa East, Vida Dioretey, led a delegation to the school in response to the incident.
She expressed concerns about the impact of the fire on academic activities, stating that there may be a need to temporarily close the school as students could face challenges accessing food.
“Let’s try and comport ourselves,” the DCE said while addressing the traumatized students. “We will look for a temporary solution to this problem while we look for a permanent one. I won’t take this story and keep it to myself. I will let it out… If it comes to the worst and you are not to stay in school, wherever you find yourself, live well, stay well as we find solutions to this issue.”
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) was not available for comments at the time of filing this report.
Lassia-Tuolu Senior High School is a mixed-sex Catholic school with great academic merits and popularity in the Upper West Region. It is the only second-cycle school in the Wa West District.
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