Fire crews from four stations raced to Sidegate Primary School in Ipswich after a staff member reported a smell of smoke on Wednesday. Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service control received the call at 12:28pm on 24 June 2026 and immediately alerted engines from Ipswich Princes Street and Ipswich East, with further support mobilised from Needham Market and Haverhill.
The fire had taken hold in the roof of the single-storey block, a space roughly 40 metres square that houses the school’s youngest children. Four standard fire appliances rushed to Sidegate Lane alongside a rescue tender and an aerial ladder platform. While crews grappled with the blaze, police sealed the road to keep the scene safe. Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service gave the stop message at 2:54pm—confirming the flames were out—and firefighters stayed on site checking for hotspots until the incident formally closed at 5:35pm. Sidegate Lane had already reopened by 1:34pm.
Staff guided every pupil and adult clear of the building before the first engine arrived. Parents later collected their children directly from the school, with no injuries reported. The response unfolded during an amber extreme-heat warning that remains in place across Suffolk until Saturday 27 June. The weather service has urged residents to take care, though the fire service has not linked the blaze to the soaring temperatures.
Sidegate Primary, led by headteacher Graham Almond, sits at the heart of the IP4 community off Sidegate Lane. The school had earlier experienced an unrelated closure while engineers repaired a faulty fire alarm—an episode the school handled by keeping children at home until the system was fixed. Wednesday’s roof fire is the first significant incident in recent memory to demand a multi-station turn-out.
Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service posts updates to its website for anyone seeking further information on the incident, which carried the reference 024421.
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