School pupils watch house burn

Pupils at West Auckland's Waitakere Primary School had a spectacular start to the day and a lesson in the effects of fire when a house across the road was destroyed just before classes started this morning.

Firefighters were called to the house on Bethells Rd about 7.30am. A family was understood to have escaped unharmed.

Water mains were on the opposite side of the road, outside the school, which caused "a bit of confusion and a little bit of congestion" for morning traffic, said Tony McDonald, northern fire communications shift manager.

School principal Heather Atkinson said the road, which is the main route into Auckland from Bethells Beach, was blocked off and teachers and some of the school's 480 pupils were forced to walk up to 500m to get to school.

The "ferocious" blaze saw acrid smoke waft through the school and "pervaded the skyline", she said.

However, the smoke had now cleared and teaching the pupils about fire safety was now "top of the list", she said.

Mr McDonald said the house was "pretty much gone" and fire safety officers were now investigating the wreckage of the house to determine the cause, he said.

- NZPA