HUNDREDS of children had to be evacuated when a fire broke out at their school on Friday.
The blaze started on the roof of Withins High School during afternoon lessons.
It is thought to have started while workmen were covering the roof's surface with tar.
The worker kept the fire under control with a dry powder extinguisher until more than 15 firefighters arrived.
Two firefighters wearing breathing kits went inside and climbed on to the roof to put out the flames.
Station officer Peter Jones, from the Bolton North Fire Station, said: "It could have been a very serious fire, but the workmen did a very good job, keeping it under control until we arrived."
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