Fire in built environment
Details
Event title
New Zealand - Auckland high school to close for a week after heritage building ‘lost’ to fire
Source
Severity
Low
Event date (UTC)
2026-02-21 10:56:46
Last update (UTC)
2026-02-21 10:56:46
Area range
Local event
Address/Affected area(s)
Northcote College, Auckland, Auckland Region
Auckland’s Northcote College will be closed this week after a fire tore through one of its buildings on Friday.
The fire - which happened while Fire and Emergency NZ staff were on strike - gutted the high school’s sports pavilion building
“We are sad to have lost a heritage building, the oldest building on the school site, which has served the school community for over a century,” Northcote College said on its Facebook page.
The school had said it would open “as usual” on Monday morning, however in an update on Saturday it said the Ministry of Education had advised it to stay closed the entire week to allow for “the safe demolition and removal of the fire damaged building which includes some asbestos cladding”.
“We are moving to online learning for the week of Monday 23 February to Friday 27 February for all students.”
Students and their whānau were urged to check their emails for more information.
The fire broke out shortly after midday on Friday, prompting the evacuation of students onto the school field as flames overwhelmed the building. The fire was contained - though not fully extinguished - by 2pm.
It was the same hour NZ Professional Firefighters’ Union members were on strike, the result of almost 19 months of failed bargaining with FENZ over pay, working conditions and fire fighting equipment.