Former Oakes school gutted by fire leading to calls for safety review.
Kirklees councillor Cahal Burke says chances to stop such an incident occurring have been spurned.
A Kirklees councillor has called for an urgent safety assessment after the former Oakes School was gutted by fire yesterday.
Cahal Burke, (Lib Dems, Lindley), said he had contacted the authorities on numerous occasions about the safety of the site after residents’ concerns that the school which had been also used as a care home, had become a magnet for anti-social behaviour.
West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service were called to a fire in an unused building on Wellington Street in Lindley a t 2.25pm.
Four appliances from Huddersfield, Rastrick, Cleckheaton and Slaithwaite, and the aerial ladder from Halifax, attended.
The building is approximately 65m by 40m, and the fire involved around 10% of the building.
School Street West was closed for a short time to allow teams to carry out their work and crews were at the site until 6pm.
A spokeswoman for the service said: “No one was injured and the fire did not spread to any other buildings. An investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing.”
Clr Burke said: “The safety of this building, a listed building, has been a concern for local residents for many years and it’s a shame that such a lovely old building has been allowed to deteriorate in this way and its owner needs to take action.
“There has been scope for an opportunity to prevent this happening but sadly it has not been taken.”
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/…/former-oakes-school-gutted…