Brothers save school from fire started by young drug smokers

Shannon Rowe (left) and his brother Dylan who spotted the smoke. Picture / Otago Daily Times

A pair of cannabis smokers aged 9 and 11 almost set a Dunedin school on fire yesterday.

The day was saved by another pair of youngsters who raised the alarm after jumping on their bicycles to investigate the smoke.

Police are now trying to find where the young smokers got the cannabis.

Senior Sergeant Steve Aitken, of Dunedin, said the boys were smoking in the grounds of Halfway Bush School about 10.30am when they set a bush on fire.

Police had spoken to the boys after the incident.

"It looks like they have acquired some cannabis and were having a wee puff when things got out of control."

It was very unusual, and particularly concerning, for police to come across children that young smoking cannabis, he said.

"Obviously this incident highlights some other issues we are very worried about."

The boys would be referred to the police youth section and inquiries were continuing about how they acquired the drug.

Fire hero Shannon Rowe, aged 12, of Halfway Bush, said he been practising what to do in case of a fire since he could walk.

All the training came in useful yesterday when his quick thinking saved his old school from the threat of burning down.

The Kaikorai Valley College Year 8 pupil was playing with his brother Dylan, 10, at their home when they saw what appeared to be a classroom at their old primary school on fire.

The boys immediately rode over to investigate. When they found the bush on fire, Shannon called 111 on his cellphone.

Their mother Michelle Rowe said the boys had practised fire drills at home since they were little.

"They know all of the evacuation points in the house if there is a fire, it is just so important, especially the way our house used to be, it didn't have a lot of exit points."

Senior Station Officer Ian Anderson, from Roslyn, said the fire could have been a lot worse, as the bush, part of a shrub border behind one of the school classroom blocks, was only centimetres from the wooden window frames of the building.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES