Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Blaze destroys Lakes High classroom

Kelly Makiha
By Kelly Makiha
Multimedia Journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
10 Apr, 2012 07:27 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A suspicious fire has destroyed a classroom at Rotorua Lakes  High School and other buildings, including the school's marae, were close to going up in flames.

The fire is being treated as suspicious because the same classroom was set alight a week ago. The Rotorua Fire Service was called to the blaze about 8.30 last night by a resident living near the school.

Senior station officer Richard Anastasi said by the time firefighters arrived, the stand alone classroom was well alight.

He said there was nothing they could do to save the classroom so they concentrated their efforts on trying to keep the fire away from the adjacent classrooms and the school's marae, which were about 3m away. Two fire trucks attended with eight firefighters and it took about 15 minutes to get the blaze under control.

He said it was too early to determine if an accelerant was used. "It's more than likely set deliberately but we will be investigating that thoroughly with the police."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said the Fire Service was called to the school about 10pm a week ago after the same classroom was set alight. On that occasion, firefighters were able to get to the fire before too much damage was done.

He said the ramp and door to the classroom was burnt as well as some cabling.

"Unfortunately the building wasn't alarmed because last week's fire burnt the cabling and it hadn't been replaced yet."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Anastasi said the classroom was near the fields and Elliott Cres, which was the back entrance to the school.

"One of the problems with the school is that it is open to everyone. It's difficult to keep an eye on the whole school."

The school's caretaker was on site at the time of the fire and was one of the many residents who called 111.

"With the school holidays at the moment, we tend to get an increase of incidents around schools. A lot of them are putting security fences around the perimeters now."

Senior Sergeant Malcolm Collins of the Rotorua police told The Daily Post the area was cordoned off last night and members of the Rotorua CIB and a fire safety officer were to conduct a scene examination early this morning.

Lakes High School's science block was the target of a suspicious fire in July 2010 which left extensive damage to five classrooms.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Sport

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM

Whakarewarewa dominated Te Puna with a 57-10 win in Rotorua.

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM
'Horrible': Memorial for deaf, blind man killed in alleged hit-and-run is destroyed

'Horrible': Memorial for deaf, blind man killed in alleged hit-and-run is destroyed

08 Jul 10:50 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP