Otahuhu College fire

I was sorry to see news of the fire at my old school yesterday, in the very building in which I learned my Technical Drawing and decided to become an architect (left). Very sad. But how badly was it damaged, I wondered?

Finding out what caused it seems easy enough: "The Fire Service," reports Radio NZ ,"says a contractor fixing a leak accidentally started a fire that damaged six classrooms at a South Auckland secondary school." But six classsrooms? The Radio NZ report this morning quotes "East Auckland deputy chief, Roger Callister," who says "there has been significant damage to the roof" -- which you can see in that small picture -- and also Principal Gil Laurenson, who says that "about six classrooms were lost."

But this morning's Herald report also quotes Mr Callister, this time saying that "fire damage was contained to two classrooms."

Just another example of why we shouldn't rely on journalists too much for our information.