A college marae has been gutted by fire after mattresses were placed over heating vents, and chairs and tables stacked across emergency exits, blocking access for firefighters.
Bay of Plenty fire service risk management officer Jon Rewi said lives could have been lost when the fire tore through the marae at Opotiki College on Saturday night.
"The school had 40 students who were set up to sleep in the wharenui and an adjacent room. "The tables and chairs had been pushed across some emergency exits and mattresses laid out on the floors, blocking other exits.
"The mattresses were placed over under-floor heating vents and, as a result of the overheating, the floor of the wharenui caught fire."
A working fire alarm system did not appear to have been in place and instead a caretaker was alerted when the burglar alarm motion sensor detected the rapidly spreading flames, Mr Rewi said. "Luckily, the students were out of the two buildings at the time. A few hours later and, without an early warning system, those in the wharenui would have been trapped inside, unable to escape out the exits. There almost certainly would have been fatalities."