Wellington school set on fire

Wellington police are on the lookout for at least one firebug after a school was set on fire shortly after a car parked nearby was burnt out.

Detective Sergeant John van den Heuvel said a car parked next to Miramar South School's playing field was set on fire about 1.40am today and was totally destroyed.

Then about 3am the school's smoke alarms went off, alerting firefighters to a deliberately lit fire against a classroom wall.

Mr van den Heuvel said "numerous" windows at the school were smashed overnight as well and the fire would have caused extensive damage had it not been for the smoke alarms.

- NZPA