Fire destroys half of high school

Press, 11 October 1982, Page 6

Fire destroys half of high school

PA New Plymouth

Police and fire-safety officers sifted through the debris of the ruined, half of Opunake High School at the week-end and will be back on the site this morning to continue their task. ’ “We are not treating it as arson at this stage." said Detective Sergeant B. Goodwin, of Hawera, yesterday. It took three hours early on Saturday morning for 40 firemen and six engines to get the blaze under control, but they could not prevent the administration block, assembly hall, library, and nine classrooms from being

destroyed. Opunake's chief fire officer, Mr Colin Butler, said that when he walked past the hall there had been no sign of fire in it. "I reached the end of the next wing, looked back, and the. hall had gone." The hall, built in the mid--19605. was the newest part of the school. There has been criticism of how the first emergency telephone calls to raise the alarm were handled, but the chief postmaster at New Plymouth, Mr John Small, said yesterday that he could not . comment until the complaints and circumstances had been fully investi-

gated. Opunake's emergency calls are routed through the New Plymouth toll exchange at night.

Lack of water was a big problem for the fire fighters. Though the supply to the rest of the town was shut off. the mains still ran dry. It was not till a New Plymouth engine arrived that four portable pumps were used to tap a nearby stream.

The school's swimming pool had been emptied last Monday so that it could be cleaned. More than 100 people worked through yesterday helping to clear the debris. .