School on fire

Bendigo still had the name Sandhurst in 1890 yet debate raged in the community on the benefits of each of the respective names.
There were those who had been born here from the mid 1850s onwards that felt quite at home with the name Sandhurst, the name they had grown up with.
Then there were others who harked back to the glory days of the early alluvial gold rush, when the name of Bendigo was synonymous with an immensely rich goldfield.
There were numerous examples of the original name Bendigo being used for institutions, businesses, newspapers and organisations.
In the same year, 1890, the effects of the general and shipping strike were keenly felt, particularly through the lack of coal supplies which had a profound impact on train transport, gas production and foundry work in particular.
Hand in hand with the strike was also a rise in unionism in Bendigo.
The Trades and Labour Council received a boost from general dissatisfaction with wages and conditions of work, not only for men but also, surprisingly, for single women working as tailoresses for Bendigo’s many drapery stores.
It was a time for the permanent establishment of the institution.
On the hill above Irishtown was perched the North Sandhurst State School.
The wooden building was now already 17 years old and many students had already had the benefit of being educated there.
The weatherboard school building had been constructed as two large rooms which had been built in a T configuration.
The top of the T faced south and was on an angle of almost 45 degrees to the fire lookout tower which was part of the Central State School situated on Camp Hill.
From his vantage point, a fire spotter detected the glow of a fire at about 5.30am on Sunday, July 13, 1890 at Irishtown. The fire spotter started to ring the fire bell.
At almost the same time a young man, Alfred Skurrie, who lived close to the school, also noticed that the school building was on fire and he hurriedly forced his entry into the building.
Alfred had found a ladder under the school veranda, which he placed next to one of the windows, which he succeeded in opening and so gained his entry.
Young Alfred grabbed maps, wall charts and other articles as well as continuing to move out the lighter furniture.
Willoughby Pain, who worked at the Bendigo Gas Company Works in Lower Bridge Street, (now called Weeroona Avenue) also lived close to the school and he helped Alfred Skurrie move portable items out of the burning building.
Soon other neighbours arrived at the
scene, as did the Little Ironbark Fire Brigade Unit, which was situated in Buckley Street several house blocks from Moran Street.
This brigade was a branch of the Temperance Fire Brigade located on the uphill side and to the rear of the Masonic Hall (The Capital) in View Street.
James and Donald Walker along with H Blair arrived with their fire reel holding the fire hoses.
Their hoses were connected via a hydrant to the nearest fireplug to the school, a distance of about 275 metres.
Unfortunately their hoses were unable to reach anywhere near the fire.
Cohn’s Fire Brigade was the next on the scene and they connected their hoses onto those of the Little Ironbark Brigade, with the Temperance Fire Brigade also joining forces attempting to quell the blaze, which by this time had got a good hold on the southern section of the school building.
All the combined brigades efforts were to effectively prevent the whole school building from being destroyed.

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