Published: 5:46PM Tuesday October 22, 2013 Source: ONE News

Two Cook Islands schools have been hit by suspicious fires several hours apart, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Six classrooms at Nukutere College were burned to the ground after a fire was reported just after 1am on Sunday (local time).

Now, mangled roofing iron is all that remains of the classrooms, three resource rooms and the school's canteen.

A second fire was reported at Avatea School in Nikao just after 4pm that afternoon, damaging classrooms and the primary school's library.

Nukutere College Principal George Rasmussen told ONE News that he felt an "absolute sense of helplessness" in the face of the damage.

While Nga Charlie, from Avatea Primary School, said staff and students were "so sad" to see the damage.

"A lot of work has gone into the school in the last five years," she said.

The Cook Islands News reports that firefighters were unable to respond immediately to the Nukutere College fire due to three aircraft arriving at the Rarotonga International Airport at the same time.

Rescue Fire Service chief Nga Jessie said he was very worried by the two incidents and has called on the government to invest more resources into the service.

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Fire destroys two Cook Islands schools