Braeview Academy parents and a cross-party group of city councillors have called for an investigation into fire safety failings discovered months before a devastating blaze tore through the school.
The Courier reported earlier this month how education bosses were warned of ailing safety standards months before the Braeview blaze but it has emerged many of the issues were highlighted years earlier.
A 2013 report into standards at the school identified many of the same problems, including issues around preventing wilful fire raising, automatic fire detection, alarm signals and emergency exits.
Furious parents have called on the local authority to explain why risks were not properly addressed sooner, amid growing tension over the way the aftermath of the fire has been handled.
North East Labour councillor Brian Gordon described the most recent report into standards at Braeview as “the kind of thing you see turned up during an inquiry into some kind of public disaster”.
He said: “It’s incredible that they had kids in the school when they hadn’t properly followed up on those checks.
“I want to know if other schools have these problems and what is being done to make sure children are safe. I would absolutely like to see an investigation and I hope they will look into something like that.”
Dundee City Council leader John Alexander confirmed 42 of the 44 actions detailed in the December fire assessment report “were complete or already in progress before the fire took place at Braeview in September”.
The report found that CCTV systems were “very old, very poor quality and require upgrading”, and that that fire exits did not “open in the direction of escape when necessary”.
Fire alarm assessments found either “major defects” or systems at “serious risk of imminent failure” consistently over a five year period.
Michelle Phillips, who has three daughters at Braeview, said: “I feel they should have taken action sooner. It doesn’t bear thinking about what could have happened if there were children inside the school at the time of a fire.
“Something really needs to be done and someone should be held responsible for this. It’s not good enough to just move on now.”
Philip Scott, depute leader of Dundee City Council’s Conservative group, confirmed he and his colleagues would “certainly” back calls for an investigation.
Liberal Democrat group leader Fraser Macpherson said he would be “very supportive” of getting to the bottom of any problems, adding that fire safety assessments “are done for good reason and they should be followed”.
Mr Alexander said: “There were a small number of low risk actions that were outstanding. Unfortunately, whilst we can try to mitigate against acts of arson to a degree, we cannot mitigate against stupidity or the mindless vandalism of individuals.
“We are continuing to work closely with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland on the ongoing investigation into the fire.
“I look forward to getting the feedback from the experts and it would be appropriate to wait for the outcome of their investigations.”
