School evacuated after lightning strike during afternoon storm
A Stourport school was evacuated after a lightning strike knocked out its electronics.
Pupils at Wilden All Saints CE Primary School were taken to the adjacent village hall after the lightning bolt took out all the electrics and communications at 1.45pm.
Executive headteacher Caroline Unitt said: “There was no fire and no injuries but we lost all power to the school, it set off the fire alarms and took out the internet and all of our communications.”
A crew from Wyre Forest Fire Station attended and checked the building for hot spots using a thermal imaging camera.
Mrs Unitt said: “We were really lucky because we have keys to the village hall so were able to take the children there out of the rain.
“We are part of the Severn Academies Educational Trust and they sent a team who were able to get onto the roof, check everything was alright and deal with the alarms that were going off.
“Unfortunately, the children were not able stay at school because our fire protection system had been compromised and the parents were called, most of whom were able to come and collect their children a little bit earlier.”
After thorough checks, the school opened, fully functioning as usual on Wednesday.
All Saints Church, next to the school, is thought to have some scorch marks on its lightning rod.
