A fire at Roehampton Vale has caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to an engineering lab.
Oscar Galvany
A fire broke out in a lab at Roehampton Vale campus on September 3, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.
Twenty fire fighters were needed to tackle the blaze that was caused by an electrical fault in a motorbike that technicians and students were using during a workshop in the Autolab.
Junior, a caretaker in the campus who witnessed the fire, said: “When I first went there, I saw flames bursting outside the Autolab, which were 2 feet high. I thought about using the fire extinguisher to put out the fire, but the black smoke was too thick.
“Then the Fire Brigade was automatically called from Penrhyn Road. Most of the people who were around managed to escape from the lab. Luckily none was injured.”
Although the university’s Dean said the damage was not extensive, the Autolab still remains closed and out of use.
A Fire Brigade spokesperson said that 70 per cent of the material in the lab, which included automobile engines, computers, and the motorbike, was damaged.