On 24 June 2009, one of the school's coal-fired central heating boilers exploded while maintenance on the heating system was being carried out. The explosion blew the roof off the boiler house and shattered windows across the school. School caretaker Richard Nel received burns to 90 percent of his body and later died of his injuries in hospital.[4] A contractor was also critically injured, receiving severe head injuries and burns to the abdomen and legs, but survived the accident.[5]
The school's board of trustees was subsequently charged under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992. They pleaded guilty against all charges at the court-case in April 2010,[6] and were subsequently ordered to pay reparation and court costs totalling nearly $137,000.[7]