Fire crews at the scene of yesterday's blaze. PHOTO BEN FRASER
Fire crews at the scene of yesterday's blaze. PHOTO BEN FRASER
Teenagers have taken to Facebook to congratulate a girl who appeared to suggest in a post that she was behind a suspected arson at Rotorua Girls' High School.
Two maths classrooms were destroyed by fire and the rest of H block was damaged by water and smoke after a suspiciousblaze in the early hours of yesterday.
A screengrab which appears to be of a Facebook post by a teenage girl reads: "Tonight is the night to burn down Girls High". Asked "did you burn the school?", she replied "Only two classrooms caught!".
Other Facebook users have said she was "an idiot" and should expect to face the consequences.
Detective Sergeant Richard Lang of Rotorua police said they were aware of a number of comments made on social media about the fire, but urged the community not to be distracted or influenced by this commentary.
"The social media comments are being assessed as part of the investigation," he said.
"However, it is not the only line of inquiry, and it is extremely important that people are not influenced by the comments to the point where they don't report information they have which might be relevant. We want to hear from anyone who may have information, no matter how insignificant it may seem."
Police also want to hear from any residents in the area who have CCTV systems which may have captured images of use to the investigation.
Police were alerted to the fire by a call from a member of the public about 1.20am.
Image 1 of 6: Fire crews investigate a suspicious fire at a Rotorua Girls High School classroom Photo/Ben Fraser
The Rotorua Fire Brigade found the maths block to be "well involved in fire" said Fire North communications shift manager Paul Madden.
Seven fire trucks, along with further support vehicles from around the region, battled the blaze well into the night.
The school's Board of Trustees chairman Chris Nairn said he received a phone call at 2am from a friend driving home from work who told him his school was on fire.
"This is a good school, the girls will rise above it, part of life is you do get hardships but we will get through this," he said.
