A fire which destroyed a number of recently refurbished classrooms in a Hobart primary school on Saturday afternoon may have been deliberately lit, police say.
Four fire crews were called to Bowen Road Primary School in Moonah about 4pm to find one of the wings well alight.
"Through a quick, aggressive attack crews were able to prevent the fire spreading to the northern and southern part of the building," Tasmania Fire Service Station Officer Peter Tavasz said.
"At least two classrooms have been completely gutted, and there will be smoke and heat damage to the northern and southern parts of the building."
It is understood the classrooms — which had been recently refurbished — were locked when firefighters arrived, and Tasmania Police's Criminal Investigation Branch and forensics team have begun looking into the possibility the fire was deliberately lit.
"We'll do doorknocks up and down the street, we'll speak to any witnesses that are available, and we'll put together an evidence package," Inspector John Ward said.
"After we've got all the evidence, including any video footage if it's available, we'll start looking for the offenders."
Inspector Ward said the school had several CCTV cameras on the premises.
"I've spoken to the principal, who is understandably upset," he said.
"She's certainly assisting Tasmania Police in accessing that video footage as soon as we possibly can.
"Hopefully that will give us a clue as to what's happened."
Tasmania Police will maintain what's known as a "fire watch" overnight.
"The reason why we do that is to protect the integrity of the evidence that is here, and we can ensure that nobody else comes back to try and set fire to the premises again to either destroy evidence or to continue what they potentially started.
"That is, if it turns out to be deliberately lit."
The Tasmania Fire Service said there was likely to be smoke in the area for some time and asked people who did not need to be there to stay away.
