Lightning strike sets Puketaha Primary School hall on fire, students evacuated

A Waikato school has been closed for the day after a lightning strike caused a fire in the roof of the school's hall.

Puketaha School Deputy Principal Jason Boobyer said all the children were fine but the school just north of Hamilton, had to be evacuated.

"Thankfully it was in a position in the school where no one was using it," he said.

As soon as staff checked the environment, he said they noticed the smell of smoke.

"We got the kids out of there," he said.

Boobyer said they are really proud of how the students handled themselves.

"Obviously there was a far bit of commotion," he said.

Unfortunately, the fire also caused the internet to go down, so the school had to contact parents through text messages and emails using mobile data.

"In this situation, we're really thankful that we have a really good school community who spread the word for us," he said.

Fire and Emergency shift manager Ryan Geen said the fire was reported at midday on Wednesday.

Four fire trucks, two water tankers, two volunteer brigades and a ladder truck from Manukau were at the scene.

He said the fire was brought under control just after 1pm using water from the school pool.

On Wednesday afternoon, Fire and Emergency's Auburn Osbourne said the blaze was now out, but firefighters were continuing to look for hotspots.

"When the fire started there were no children in the hall, there was no one in the hall, it was not being used, but they evacuated the rest of the school very quickly, all the kids out onto the field.

"Crews arrived and got the fire under control fairly quickly. Because the roof was starting to collapse it made it a little bit more difficult where we couldn't put crews inside the building."

St John also responded and one person was assessed at the scene.

In 2018, four teachers were hospitalised after lightning struck a Hamilton school.