MORE than 500 secondary school pupils had to be evacuated after a fire in their school's kitchen. Toxic fumes from the blaze spread through the main school building forcing the closure of Gwernyfed High School in Three Cocks, just before lunchtime on Monday, November 21. Fire fighters from Brecon, Hay-On-Wye and Talgarth spent nearly three hours fighting the electrical blaze. Two firefighters had to be decontaminated after they were exposed to asbestos when tackling the kitchen fire. Gwernyfed headteacher John Hopkins has now called on Powys County Council to reconsider its decision to delay building the school's new purpose built kitchen and dining room for three years. Mr Hopkins said: "This reinforces our concern about the delay to building our new dining hall and kitchen. Had we had this new kitchen this would not have happened as it would be separate to the main building. "Hopefully now the county will reconsider the three year delay to building our new kitchen and dining room." The fire broke out at around 11.40 am on Monday, and it was decided to close the school at 12.30pm, with all pupils dispatched home within an hour. Mr Hopkins praised the behaviour of the children in promptly evacuating the school: "We're very proud of the children, they behaved sensibly and evacuated well." The school, that has 565 pupils and 60 staff, was evacuated within four minutes of the alarm being raised, said deputy head John Gittoes. "We have regular fire drills every half term and the kids are used to it, the only difference today was they had to move from the fire assembly point when the fire engines arrived. All the kids evacuated very maturely," said Mr Gittoes. Parents were contacted almost immediately once the decision to close the school and send pupils home was made, by the school's own text messaging service. Mr Gittoes added: "We have a text messaging service to contact all parents, either by sending a text to their mobile phone or a voice message on their home phone." Talgarth's county councillor, and former Gwernyfed pupil William Powell, said: "I certainly think a new kitchen facility should now be a priority for the council." Three Cocks county councillor Geraint Hopkins added: "The dining facilities at Gwernyfed are not ideal by any means and obviously the new kitchen, dining facility as planned would be the solution.Unfortunately the capital funding for this project has gone elsewhere in the County and won't now be funded for at least three years." The school was expected to re-open to all pupils on Wednesday, with only the sixth form and year's 10 and 11 attending on Tuesday. Pupils have been told to bring packed lunches, due to the kitchen being closed, though packed lunches are being provided for children who normally receive a free school meal. Steve Haywood, station officer at Brecon fire station, said two firefighters had to be decontaminated due to the presence of asbestos in the kitchen, and the decontamination procedures that involved placing their protective clothing into sealed bags was carried out at the back of the school. Mr Haywood also praised the school's quick evacuation and said it showed the benefits of carrying out risk assessments. Powys County Council stated that a new kitchen and dining block has been included in its capital programme for 2008/09. The current damage is still being assessed.