{"id":273267,"date":"2026-02-08T04:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T04:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/273267\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T04:01:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T04:01:19","slug":"crews-from-as-far-as-tauranga-battle-major-blaze-at-taupo-high-school-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/273267\/","title":{"rendered":"Crews from as far as Tauranga battle major blaze at Taup\u014d high school"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thick black smoke has been billowing over Taup\u014d this afternoon as firefighters \u2014 including crews travelling from as far away as Tauranga \u2014 work to contain a significant blaze at Taupo-nui-a-Tia College.<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency NZ said it was alerted to a well-involved fire at the high school at around 2.11pm on Sunday.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said volunteer and career crews from Taup\u014d, Taup\u014d, Kinloch, Rotorua, Tokoroa, Greerton, Tauranga, and Kaingaroa were responding.<\/p>\n

“The fire is producing a significant amount of smoke. Nearby residents who may be affected by the smoke should close windows and doors. If you are concerned about your health, you can call Healthline on 0800 611 116.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A fire burns from the second storey of a building at Taupo-nui-a-Tia College in Taup\u014d. (Source: Supplied \/ Allan Goldsmith)<\/p>\n

Police were called to assist firefighters at the scene at around 2.15pm.<\/p>\n

Smoke from the fire has been visible across Taup\u014d and from out on the lake, with loud popping sounds heard as the blaze intensified.<\/p>\n

Taupo-nui-a-Tia College said the school would be closed on Monday as a result of the blaze, urging people not to come to the site.<\/p>\n

\"Smoke<\/p>\n

Smoke billows from Taupo-nui-a-Tia College. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

A witness told 1News the fire appeared to be centred on N Block, a two-storey structure near the front of the school grounds.<\/p>\n

Taup\u014d MP Louise Upston said in a post it was “devastating news” to see.<\/p>\n

“Thinking of all in the local community – I know our local fire & emergency services will be doing everything they can.”<\/p>\n

Taupo-nui-a-Tia College has a roll of more than 1100 students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thick black smoke has been billowing over Taup\u014d this afternoon as firefighters \u2014 including crews travelling from as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9001,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-273267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-hamilton-waikato","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}