Yesterday, as residents of the village single-mindedly set about providing for the educational needs of its children, the command’s investigations manager Detective Sergeant Mark Meredith confirmed “samples” had been extracted from the rubble.

An “accelerant-detecting” dog, attached to the

NSW Fire Brigades Fire Investigation and Research Unit, joined the investigation on Thursday.

“As a result of the examinations, a number of samples were obtained from the fire scene,” Det Sgt Meredith said.

“The samples will be sent away for analysis.

“We are certainly treating this incident as suspicious.”

Eumungerie bushfire brigade members were on the scene of the fire 10 minutes after a triple-0 call at 4.34 am on Wednesday.

They were unable to save two classrooms, the canteen, library, computer room and an outdoor learning area.

“By the time we got here they were fully engulfed in flames,” said Mandii Lesslie, one of the first firefighters on the scene.

But she and others managed to keep surrounding buildings including the administration block cool until reinforcements arrived.

Eumungerie children stayed home this week while the Department of Education and Training hurriedly made plans for their return on Monday, including the transportation to the village of a temporary and demountable classroom.

School education director for Dubbo Jane Cavanagh has told the community “we will be rebuilding at Eumungerie”.

She has met with parents of the school including its parents and citizens association president Tracey Haraki who yesterday praised the department’s speedy response.

Mrs Haraki says “everybody wants to know what happened” at the 106-year-old school in th early hours of Wednesday morning.

But, she says, while the police investigation continues the village is intent on doing what it can to re-equip the school.

“There’s so much stuff we need now ... that can’t wait for insurance to come through,” she said.

A cricket day is being planned for early March to raise funds.

Det Sgt Meredith confirmed yesterday afternoon that police had concluded their examination of the fire-ravaged school that was no longer classified as a crime scene.

“However, we are certainly keen to talk to any member of the public who may have information regarding the school fire,” he said.