Fire engulfs Wynberg Allen School Auditorium in Mussoorie

by azzayindia | March 29, 2009 at 07:34 am

7337 views | 62 Recommendations | 62 comments

Eyewitness account:

While the students of Wyenberg Allen were fast asleep around midnight the fire engulfed Audotorum of the school and turned it into ashes within few hours.

MUSSOORIE: MAR 29

The biggest fire in the history Mussoorie Schools has destroyed the school’s prestigious auditorium completely with capacity of 1000 persons at Wynberg Allen, Mussoorie Christian missionary boarding school at Bala Hissar.According to the Police officials the fire which began at midnight engulfed the auditorium and turned it into the ashes within few hours. The Fire crew on information, struggled to get inside school premises due to the haphazard parking on the road, battled the raging inferno and could control the fire only after 5 long hours. The situation became precarious when the water of the fire tanks finished and crew were stranded without it for few minutes but quick thinking of firemen saved further damage as they put the pump inside the swimming pool which was being filled for swimming championships. The heat of the fire was such that it destroyed even the metal girders at the auditorium along with the expensive focus and spot lights installed at the auditorium. According to the staff at Jaypee Hotel which is few km away from the school said that they saw bright blaze emanating from the school that caught their attention and immediately called at school to inform them of the accident. The Guards at the school gates had no clew of the fire as it was on the back side from where it is not visible said the school authorities. According to the estate manager Alberto-O- Connor the fire started at around midnight presumably due to short circuit in the auditorium completely damaging it and estimated loss is around 60-80 lakhs.He also thanked god as no casualty was reported in the incident and all student and staff were safe. Fire Officer Mussoorie BP Gildyal divulging the cause said that prima facie it looks like case of short circuit but foul play is also not ruled out, and they were investigating the matter from all angles. The students who were fast asleep at night were in deep shock and were sad at the loss of the grand and largest auditorium in Dehradun District. This incident has however raised few questions of fire safety in the schools of Mussoorie and compliance of the requirements by the fire department.Gildyal Fire Officer in Mussoorie said that thorough inspection at schools will be carried out and action will be initiated against schools who do not comply in this matter effectively. The school founded in 1888 is a premiere institution of Mussoorie.The estate manager of the school Alberto-O- Connor also informed that antique piano kept in the auditorium were also ravaged in the fire along with the other important equipment in the school. He also informed that the Auditorium was the largest with the seating capacity of 1000 students in Dehradun District.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

jordan

flagged this story as Eyewitness Report

at 08:18 on March 29th, 2009

This is an eyewitness report from the NowPublic member azzayindia who was on the scene.

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Barry ORegan

at 08:14 on March 29th, 2009

hopefully they will have money to rebuild

bryan1234 (not verified)

at 22:49 on March 29th, 2009

money is not a problem for wynberg allen they've got enough

NAYAN (not verified)

at 21:10 on March 30th, 2009

oohhhh...money ya i guess they have enough money to build one auditorium in every school

azzayindia

at 08:20 on March 29th, 2009

Barry they are missionaries and more over ths school is on expensive side

for prospectus see

http://www.wynbergallen.com/prospectus/index.htm

rumana husain

at 09:09 on March 29th, 2009

what a sad thing to happen. safety in buildings is a much underestimated, overlooked factor in our part of the world.

azzayindia

at 09:17 on March 29th, 2009

it is sad that ithas happened in missionary school.These schools now are more intersted in high fees instead of missionary work of serving the poor.

ravi1011 (not verified)

at 05:13 on May 12th, 2009

I was one of the hall monitors of this auditorium in 1992. There are so many memories with this auditorium ( especially the back stage ). Every student of the school felt proud while just entering the Auditorium. Really sad to hear about the loss.

Amy Judd

at 09:37 on March 29th, 2009

Very sad..

Fred Miller

at 09:57 on March 29th, 2009

Thanks Azzay for this great but sad story. The school is legendary, in Pune we had many female students who came to complete their Teacher's Training and kept us entranced not only with their description of the place but also by their personal beauty (the Dehra Dun climate gave them beautiful complexions !)

Neha Kapoor (not verified)

at 11:40 on March 29th, 2009

I have spent the best years of my school life in this school and we all are shocked! So many memories are linked to it. I only hope they are able to rebuild it.

deepak panwar (not verified)

at 13:03 on March 29th, 2009

sad news. i hope other institutes will learn from this abt safety arrangements

deepak panwar is crack (not verified)

at 22:02 on April 16th, 2009

hello.......u should keep diz dum comment wid urself.........cuz WAS had all sorts of hi-fi safty arrangements..................n how dare u point ur finger 2 WAS in such cases..........

azzayindia

at 22:33 on March 29th, 2009

i too hope that but the main focus of these english medium shops is fees and more fees

azzayindia

at 22:34 on March 29th, 2009

i am against religion controlling education be it any denomination

bryan1234 (not verified)

at 22:47 on March 29th, 2009

money is not a problem for wynberg allen they've got enough..

john maverick

at 22:50 on March 29th, 2009

you hindoos always find fault with Christian missionaries.They are educating you to get big fat salaries is thatnot good enough.

john maverick

at 22:58 on March 29th, 2009

i think it might be hindoo terrorist who are behind this fire. The likes of Varun Gandhi's can do anything

azzayindia

at 23:00 on March 29th, 2009

It seems john you are geared up for elections effectively

RICHA MISRA (not verified)

at 00:45 on March 30th, 2009

We thank God that noe of the kids were harmed although the news is a shock to us because cause the auditorium has so so many of our memories revolving around it I hope everything is normal again.

swaty Singh Malik (not verified)

at 01:29 on March 30th, 2009

Am so thankful to the Almighty that no one was hurt.. i having studied in Wynberg Allen am soooo shocked and sad .. the auditorium was indeed our pride amongst many other things. as far as the fee is concerned.. it justifies every penny it charges. its not about hindu or christian it is about qualityof education . hoep we are able to rebuild teh grand structure once again.. and yes a heartfealt thanks to the staff of Jaypee. God bless my school.

Navneet (not verified)

at 01:40 on March 30th, 2009

This is a real shocking ..our auditorium where we sat to sing hyms every morning and receive all prizes and honours. I still remember banging tables at debates on the stage and performing all sorts of acts.

However, hope for the best and I am sure school will make another auditorium which will be more outstanding and better for our kids in school to remember..........

Rishav (not verified)

at 02:54 on March 30th, 2009

Damn.!!!!... This is so sad... We were so proud of that auditorium... so many memories of that place.. :(

sonal (not verified)

at 03:02 on March 30th, 2009

if u ppl dun knw dun say ohk....d fees iz nothin as compared 2 woodstock n ol...n plz dun start hinduism and christianity hre ohk....it's not ny1's fault no terrorist ohk....thank god tht d kids r safe ohk...n yes v hv a much betta audi cummin up....ohk...n yes u guys dun need 2 wry bout d expences....

Gokul Prasad (not verified)

at 03:04 on March 30th, 2009

very sad thing happened in WAS... there were so many memories of da audi... :(

sonal (not verified)

at 03:06 on March 30th, 2009

its OK v hve a much betta audi cummin up....

ADITYA JAIN (not verified)

at 03:08 on March 30th, 2009

ITZZ REALLY A VERY SAD ND DEPRESSING NEWZZ.... ALL OUR MEMORIES RELATED TO THE AUDITORIUM.. have gone done the drain... itzz really very sad .... bt m sure that the school will take some precautionss for the future so that there is no such kind of mishappening. I hope very thing will b back to normal again ..... nd i assure the SCHOOL WE THE EX-STUDENTS THE ALLENITES ARE ALWAYS THERE FOR THE SCHOOL...

Supriya (not verified)

at 03:37 on March 30th, 2009

this is a really shocking newss....

they r so many memories in tht auditorium

hope every thing will be finee!!

Ekachai Srikureja (not verified)

at 03:41 on March 30th, 2009

I used to study in WAS for 7 years. I was shocked when my bro told me the news. Where we all used to be in the auditorium every morning of asssembly and other special occassions such as FOUNDER's DAY , INDEPENDECE DAY, HINDI PLAY, ENGLISH PLAY, PRIZZE DAY or what so ever... damn man i rlly miss this building... I would also like to THANK OUR LORD for blessing the students and nothing has happened to them.... I pray that nothing else like this going to happen ever agian in WAS or anywhere else around the world. May LORD BLESS WYNBERG ALLEN & help them to build up a better and safer auditorium......

EXCELSIOR !

RICHA MISRA (not verified)

at 04:22 on March 30th, 2009

Although the news is a shock for all of us but it's good that none of the kids were harmed. We as ex- students will always stand by our school .n plz stop getin politics n religion issues in this context.Hope everything is fine soon.

EXELSIOR!