Schools escape fire damage

Two Northland schools have had narrow escapes from fire in as many days.
Yesterday a quick-witted teacher - and a quick response by firefighters - was credited with saving Kerikeri Primary School from a potentially disastrous blaze caused by a fluorescent light fitting.
Little more than 12 hours earlier a stray spark from a grinder is thought to started a fire which threatened a metalwork room at Bay of Islands College in Kawakawa.
The Kerikeri fire damaged a classroom ceiling, lino and carpet, and has forced a class to move to a spare room.
Principal Paul Lindsay said the fire was starting to take hold just as staff arrived at the school on Hone Heke Rd about 7.15am.
"We're extremely lucky. There were no flames, it was just smouldering, but an observant teacher smelled it and called 111."
The relatively minor damage was due to good luck, good management and the teacher's alertness.
No class materials were burnt, but some had been smoke damaged.
Mr Lindsay said the volunteer firefighters had been "outstanding".
All electrical fittings at the school had been checked in the past 12 months and it was unclear why, or when, the light fitting had failed.
Kerikeri Fire Brigade deputy chief Greg Imms said two appliances responded, with firefighters removing ceiling panels and sheets of roofing iron to make sure the blaze was thoroughly extinguished.
"It was a good save. It could have been interesting," he said.
About 5.10pm on Thursday, principal Elgin Edwards was the first to raise the alarm when a fire started in the technology block at Bay of Islands College in Kawakawa.
Damage was minimal, thanks to metal sheeting on the walls where the blaze started, firefighters had serious concerns about gas cylinders used for welding.
Two crews from Kawakawa, one from Paihia and a Hazmat (hazardous materials) command vehicle from Whangarei responded to the blaze.
Kawakawa fire chief Wayne Martin said smoke was pouring from the eaves of the metalwork room when firefighters arrived.
Far North fire investigator Lindsay Murray said the cause was not electrical, so the only possibility was a grinder spark igniting a plastic lamp or welder cover. The college is understood to be partway through installing a new fire detection system.
Yesterday's fire callout at Kerikeri Primary was across the road from Kerikeri High School, which lost an entire classroom block - including science labs and a computer suite - in an arson attack last June.