During the early hours of July 8 2001, more than 80 years of history was destroyed when Rosyth’s Kings Road School was engulfed in flames.
The deliberate blaze caused extensive damage that ultimately led to the primary’s demolition.
The school opened in 1918 and was the main high school for the Rosyth and Inverkeithing area until 1972, when Inverkeithing High School took over for secondary provision.
King’s Road School was kept on as a primary, continuing to serve the local area until that fateful day 20 years ago.
Firefighters tackle inferno
The alarm was first raised at 6am when there were reports of flames billowing from the roof of the two-storey building.
Crews from the nearby Rosyth station, along with firefighters from Dunfermline, initially responded to the call, however, when they arrived the fire was already well established with flames and smoke, pouring from the building.
Assistance was soon summoned from other parts of Fife and at the height of the blaze 10 fire crews, 55 firefighters, two aerial ladder platforms and the command unit were being used in the fight against the blaze.
Five main jets, a ground monitor and two breathing apparatus sets were also used.
The fire service even asked the water authority to boost the water pressure to the area to help fight the flames, which took around 90 minutes to be extinguished.
Due to the precarious roof, firefighters had to tackle the blaze from the outside as the service worried over the possibility of the roof caving in.
They were right.
Fife’s acting deputy fire master Brian Morris said at the time: “The fire appliances concentrated on dealing with the fire from outside and above the blaze, and it was brought under control by 7.46am.
“The fire was confined to most of the roof space and upper level – the roof collapsed and is now lying in the first floor.”
The majority of the roof space collapsed, while the ground floor was badly affected by smoke and water damage.
Efforts turned to removing valuables from the building, and finding out the cause.
One of the items pulled from the destruction was a toy rocking horse from the nursery, the young children went on to nickname him “Smokey”.
Teenager set blaze after being locked out
After an investigation and enquiries, a 16-year-old, Matthew Beattie, was charged with starting the fire.
It was revealed he started the blaze by igniting curtains in the school after lighting a cigarette.
The night before, the teen had been out with friends in Rosyth, but had received a phone call from his father and was told to come home immediately.
However, he broke his curfew and when he arrived home found himself locked out.
Beattie found himself cold and wet wandering around Rosyth, becoming angry and resentful as a result.
He eventually broke into King’s Road School and stayed there until about 4am.
During that time, he walked about the school and kicked in glass panels on doors.
Beattie then took a cigarette lighter and set fire to curtains which quickly took hold on the building.
It was a split-second decision that caused a £4.6 million blaze, and left 450 pupils without a school.
Throughout the week after the fire, Beattie made a number of admissions to friends that he had started it.
This information was eventually passed to the police. Beattie at first denied starting the fire but later made a full confession.
During the trial Solicitor Eileen Sumpter said Beattie was now facing up to the consequences arising from a minute of mindless vandalism.
Beattie’s solicitor said her client had no intention of causing serious damage to King’s Road School.
While a psychiatric report on him indicated he had no fascination with fire and that he wanted to express his regret and remorse for his action.
Mrs Sumpter added that Beattie had taken up with people who were a bad influence on him, and he had been drinking to excess despite being only 16.
He had been warned on several occasions by his father who decided out of good motives that night to teach him a lesson by locking him out altogether.
The psychiatrist did not consider him a danger to the community.
Mrs Sumpter asked Sheriff McColl to consider a lengthy period of probation along with the young offenders’ strategy team programme (YOSTP) as recommended in the reports.
Beattie had not been in trouble before and his family were strongly supportive.
The writer of the YOSTP report considered that a custodial sentence would bring him into contact with people with serious records. and this could put him further along the downward slide.
Sheriff McColl said she had taken into account all that had been said on his behalf, but said: “However I would be failing in my duty if I did not impose a custodial sentence.”
And so Beattie was sentenced him to nine months’ detention with a further four-and-a-half months supervised release order.
£5.1 million investment
With so much devastation caused to the original, distinctive cream and red building, there was little choice but to raze it to the ground and start over again.
No single site could be identified as a temporary base for the pupils, so the school continued to operate as a primary in its own right, but on three separate sites.
In January 2003, work began on a new state-of-the-art campus which incorporated 19 classrooms, four areas for general use, a community kitchen, a dining hall and a gymnasium with changing and showering facilities.
In addition, a nursery with spaces for 70 children in the mornings and a further 70 children in the afternoon was also planned.
It was planned with the environment in mind, with energy-saving measures such as solar panels, high efficiency boilers and double glazing used, and building materials which would have a minimal effect on the environment were also chosen for the project.
In January 2004, after three years of working over split sites, the new £5.1m King’s Road School was open.
Following the opening, then head teacher Rosemary Walker said: “It really is a wonderful school and by far the best Christmas present we could ever have hoped for.”
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