1,000 SSLC Hindi answer sheets catch fire in Shimoga

Over 1,000 students in the state will not get to know their SSLC Hindi exam results. A recent fire has reduced the Hindi answer sheets to ashes in Basaveshwara High School in Shimoga, where the answer sheets were stacked up for evaluation.

“The fire department received the call at 7.31pm on Thursday, and the first fire engine left at 7.33pm from the station, located 2km away from the spot. My officers doused the fire completely in 20 minutes and stopped the fire from spreading to other corners of the room where more answer sheets were stacked up,” said regional fire officer HS Varadarajan.

Earlier, in the morning, the school management had arranged for strengthening the iron windows of the room that required welding. The welders had left at 5pm. “The fire must have gradually spread, ignited by a spark or a hot metallic particle generated by the welding machine,” he said.

According to officials in the education department, about 20 bundles of 50 papers each have been partially gutted. These bundles had come from Mysore.