THE LITTLEHAMPTON SCIENCE BLOCK FIRE 1991

Recently discovered Video 8 footage of the aftermath of the infamous fire in the Science Block at The Littlehampton School, 15 June 1991. I was there with my video camera (I wish I'd cleaned the lens!). Sorry for the shoddy camerawork and low quality image - this is the original as shot unedited video - however this is a bit of history for those of us that were still at the school at the time, or like me still within it's orbit.

[@louiemiro]

Great to see this footage. I'm the teacher whose lab was (i believe) broken into, off the flat roof on the south side. It was slightly open to allow a satellite dish cable to go through to a dish on the flat roof. I had been working till 7pm and was smoking a cigarette in there before I left. When I got a call early the next morning (a Sat I think), from my colleague, Mark Something, he told me... "Jon, the Science Department's burnt down."
I said... "yeah... good joke".
He says "no.. really.... it's burnt down..., and they reckon it started in *your lab*, and they want you to come in to speak to the fire chief."
After some more I started to believe him, and jumped in my car. I lived in Brighton, and that was a hellish 40min drive believing I had set fire to my own lab and to the whole dept.
When I got there....expecting to be arrested.... oh my god.
So.. that lab... S4 on the rear south side of the building is apparently where it started. After being escorted up there by the fire inspector/chief, and asked a few questions, he finally said they thought some lads had broken in, (thank god I thought) trashed the place some, then set it on fire, starting in my lab. The wind, as u can see from the vid, was very strong from the south that night, and the fire was whipped up and rushed through the building, enjoying all the chemicals, petrols, gas outlets? and worst of all, some radioactive samples we kept in Mr Warr's office (he was head of science at the time, and I was head of Physics).
My main fear was for all the residents and the gardens north of the school, as the wind was blowing all the chemicals from the fire onto them....some nasty ones too.... I would have advised all the neighbourhood to throw away any of their garden veg for that year.
The room, S4, had years and years of accrued work in there, equipment, specialised and vintage kit and equipment from many years back, posters, murals (on the stair well) (done by a VI former whose name I can't remember.) and the whole building had LOADS of accrued equipment and work, work schemes, animals (as mentioned), hard to remember all that was lost.
In S4 after, whilst talking to the inspector, I saw molten metal roof girders, whole heavy wooden benches had vanished, everything gone, little piles of tripods sitting there, surviving the heat... many strange and surreal sights.
Luckily it was June, I think, and so the summer hols were coming up and there was space and time then to make new arrangements.
We had the very plush and expensive "portacabins" brought in... but they were far far nicer and better than the old block, and meanwhile the new block was being built.
The insurance payout (I had to try to generate a complete physics dept inventory *purely* from memory) was around £2 million. I then had the fun task of going through the Harris physics equipt catalogue and shopping for all the new equipment for the physics dept, and getting all the state of the art kit. It was very sad to have lost some of the vintage equipment, esp as some of it was un-replaceable...
But the upside was some, a lot of, really swanky new physics equipment. About £100,000 worth or so.
Although very plush... i found the new block quite soul-less. Some nice features, but I guess... it was all new, and the old block was old and had character. Old wooden benches etc.
Anyway... a few yrs later ('95) I was offered an exchange to Australia, and then left in '96.
Hope you've all found your dreams. x

[@ameliaustunelnuttall7082]

Very interesting! My mum was a science teacher here and I remember going to visit after the fire. I can still remember the distinctive smell, sometimes I smell that particular burnt smell and I’m taken back. I remember being really sad to see dead fish on the floor. Amazing that it was 1991 as that would make me 3.5, I’d have guessed I was older given my strong memories. That is quite possibly me in the pink coat but I’d had to ask my mum!

[@zaklegge-willimas6982]

the first time not this one

[@zaklegge-willimas6982]

my dad said that this video was the second time the science block burnt down and my dad's mate did it

[@Caspersdaddy]

This was the first time. I shot this video. I don’t remember a second time.