"He's a survivor," teacher Amy Bolstad said.
The rest was charred devastation, although fire investigator Gary Beer said an Ahipara Fire Brigade crew, backed up by appliances from Kaitaia, had done an excellent job of containing the blaze.
Damage appeared to have been restricted to the one room, the rest of the centre remaining unscathed, Mr Beer saying it might have been a very different story but for the fact that the cleaner saw flames as she drove past on her way to Auckland at 4am.
Ms Bolstad said the children would be devastated when they saw what had happened.
"It's like someone has died," she said.
"Everything's insured but we can't replace all the things that have been lost. We had just finished making the wall all pretty.
"This is a small town though, and it won't take us long to find out who did this." (Others suggested that incidents such as this tended to occur over school holidays, when numerous "strangers" were staying at Ahipara).
The centre had been the target of vandals and taggers on occasions in the past, but nothing had ever happened on this scale, Ms Bolstad added.
Licensee/manager Glenys Brasell said yesterday that there could be more damage than was immediately obvious, although that would not be known until the insurers had completed their inspection. The blaze could have been disastrous though.
"If it hadn't been seen for a few more minutes, or if there had been enough wind to fan the flames, it could have gone through the whole complex," Mrs Brasell said.
There were some "pretty sad" staff and children, she added, but the centre would be back in business next week. The 3- and 4-year-old children would be using the OSCAR premises in Takahe Street, and the after-school programme would move to a spare classroom at Ahipara School.
Sandhoppers itself would be closed this week, but staff would be there if parents wished to make contact.
Meanwhile Mr Beer had no difficulty establishing where the fire had started, at the edge of the deck adjacent to the Ahipara School playing field, and no doubt that it had been deliberately lit, a view shared by Detective Sergeant Beatson.
Detectives and fire safety officers completed their scene examination by mid-morning on Saturday, and would be assessing what they had found for evidential value, he added. Police were also speaking with potential witnesses, and seeking information from the community.
Detective Sergeant Beatson asked members of the community to come forward with any information they might have.
"Given that the fire was reported at 4am, someone here will know who is responsible for it," he said.
"We want to hear from anyone who had a family member or friend out roaming around between 3am and 4am; it may be that they were involved. Please help us to make them accountable and put a stop to this activity in the Ahipara area."
Any information should go to the Kaitaia police station, phone (09) 408-6500, or to Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555-111.
