Police renew appeal for witnesses to school blaze

Glendowie Primary School after it was destroyed by a fire. Photo / Doug Sherring

Police investigating a suspicious fire that badly damaged an Auckland primary school have renewed their appeal for more witnesses to come forward.

A two-storey block of nine classrooms was razed after a fire was lit under the art department in a recently renovated part of Glendowie Primary School last Friday.

There were still no suspects at this stage, Detective Sergeant Kathy Bostock, of Glen Innes police, told NZPA today.

"We're still making inquiries. The public have been really helpful, and we've got a lot of information to read through at the moment," she said.

Ms Bostock said she had not yet discussed with the Fire Service whether an accelerant was used.

"It's still a suspicious fire at this stage," Ms Bostock said.

"Dozens of witnesses who saw the fire have been spoken to and there is a lot of CCTV (closed circuit television) footage to go through as well."

Ms Bostock said some people had been seen hanging around the school before the fire or using the swimming pool.

An emergency meeting was held on Monday between the principal and members of the school's board of trustees, staff and officials from the Ministry of Education over what to do about the fire.

Work is already underway to demolish the damaged buildings, which make up about a third of the school's classrooms.

Once cleared, temporary classrooms would be installed in time for the start of the new school term on February 1, the ministry's northern regional manager Bruce Adin said.

"In the meantime, preliminary work is already underway on the planning process for long-term replacement buildings to be erected at the school. It is expected the design process could start for this project in the first term," he said.

"The ministry will provide ongoing support to help the board, principal, teachers and their school community to ensure minimal disruption to children's learning."

- NZPA