The fire required the work of Firefighters and some neighbors who came to lend a hand; even a local barometric came to help, as shared on Twitter by the Argentine Paola Fiege. According to her post, the fire broke out near school 37.
The national director of Firefighters, Ricardo Riaño, confirmed to The Observer that the fire was controlled. Around 100 civilians collaborated in extinguishing the flames, said master inspector Walter Suárez to The Observer.
As he highlighted, several people of all kinds worked in support of the Fire and Police authorities: the school inspection body, the management, teachers, auxiliary cleaning staff, the Development Commission, students and alumni, residents of the area and even the aforementioned barometric.
Personnel from the Air Force, the Piriápolis Mayor’s Office, Green Area Services, the Maldonado Municipality and the Red Cross also worked, according to a statement from the National Administration of Public Education (ANEP).
Both Suárez and Flavia Bonjour, director of the institute, recounted that The flames were extinguished just 10 meters away. of the educational institute, which did not suffer major losses. In this sense, both thanked everyone who helped put out the fire and managed to keep it from reaching the institute.
The fight
The inspector explained that the school has a “quite large” property, one block, and “very wooded”. The school was built in March 1911, he added.
When Bonjour arrived, the fire had taken the eucalyptus planted by the founder of the spa, Francisco Piria. “He had forested the Piriápolis area at that time and he received an award for that afforestation and with that money he built the school 37 for the children of the workers who worked for him in his different enterprises”, he narrated.
Upon arrival, the director heard the “characteristic, overwhelming noise” of flames and smoke. The fire broke out in the afternoon, around 3:00 p.m. She immediately contacted the competent authorities.
“I was getting ready to go to the beach, I was doing something else completely, and they called me” alerting him to the fire, exclaimed Suárez, who left “immediately” there.
When he arrived, they had just closed the street, but the neighbors who were there urged the authorities to help.
Also, generated a “spontaneous call” so that the rest of the residents of the area would lend a hand. not long after, “All of Pueblito Obrero was there”including some children between the ages of 10 and 12, children of former students, who also gave a hand in fighting the flames.
Those who arrived brought drums full of water. Buckets were filled with the water brought by the barometric and chains were made to move them and extinguish the flames.. They also had chainsaws to cut the vegetation and try to keep the fire from spreading.
Although it was the authorities, mainly the firefighters, who dedicated themselves to extinguishing the “strong” part of the fire, the residents did their part anyway. “Within the difficult situation, it was comforting and exciting” to see how people came together to fight the fireSuarez said. “It was very rewarding,” he added.
“That was the most moving thing: seeing the community in a spirit of defense of the school. That is an indicator of what the school means to the community of Pueblito Obrero. It has roots in the community that was revealed yesterday,” said the inspector.
Bonjour indicated that it was a day of “three hours of great intensity” to manage to control the flames
For posterity
On the other hand, the teacher referred to the “book of daily occurrences”a document where the management records the “daily life” of the institute.
Once the fire passed, Suárez turned to Bonjour and assured him: “We have to make a very good record of this in the daily book, because it was a milestone”.
“It was the school saved by the firefighters, but with the support of the community. That was. A school saved by the community”, he emphasized. “If someone 50 years from now comes and studies what everyday life was like in schools [ve que] this happened… That’s why it’s so important”.
In this regard, Bonjour mentioned that this Friday managed to make that documentary record. “It is a bit descriptive of what the situation was, but also a lot of the emotionalbecause it seemed important to me,” he confessed.
Finally, the director also pointed out that one of the challenges she has from now on is to “think how to continue”; In this line, one of the paths is to “continue educating in prevention” of this kind of situation, she pointed out.
“My responsibility as the pedagogical leader that I am is that I have to take the reins and say ‘this is what I have to teach'”he stressed.
