Neighbours could smell 'horrid' smoke in the air and were stunned to see 'blue flashing lights' as a college site went up in flames. William Prophet also described seeing a helicopter overhead as the emergency services tackled the fire at the old Clarendon College campus in Pelham Avenue, Gregory Boulevard.
The 55-year-old, who spotted the helicopter at about 2am on Thursday (May 5), said: “I ironically was going for a smoke and saw it then. I could smell the smoke at night; it was a horrid smell so I went out on my pushbike to get some cigarettes and saw the blue flashing lights on the road."
But on further inspection, Sherwood resident Mr Prophet, who is self-employed, said the site didn't "seem too badly damaged". "I don’t know what happened at all, possibly could have been someone in there," he said. "Good job it didn’t spread more as I think the wind must have been blowing our way.”
