Erinsborough High Fire


The "Erinsborough High Fire" is a storyline from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours that ran on 20 and 21 October 2015, airing over episodes 7237 and 7238. These episodes were broadcast on 4 and 5 November 2015 in the United Kingdom. The storyline sees the fictional Erinsborough High School engulf in a deliberately-lit fire, which leads to a long arson mystery. Involving half the cast, the storyline was Neighbours big stunt event of the year and came about when Paul Robinson sells the school to Eden Hills Grammar for it to be closed, causing the staff and the students to protest in a school sleep-out. Many characters' have their storylines climaxed whilst being trapped in the fire, including the love triangle between Brad Willis, Lauren Turner and Terese Willis when Brad chooses to save Lauren over Terese. Expecting mother Amber Turner and Susan Kennedy are trapped in a classroom during the fire when Amber goes into labour and the two are forced to decide whether to "fight or flight" in "genuinely frightening" scenes.
Another storyline is the near death of Toadie Rebecchi, who is in a wheelchair and is saved by his wife, Sonya. Morey was glad with the storyline as it involved Sonya saving Toadie instead of the other way around. Sheila Canning overhears Toadie yelling for help, but leaves him to save herself, which results in her being "riddled with guilt". Mann thought that Sheila's decision was a sensible one and she was glad to be involved in the storyline after being a minor figure in the Erinsborough tornado the previous year. Producers were wary of triggering Mann's asthma during the filming of the storyline and so used fire and smoke machines with vapour, rather than real smoke. Boom operators were also incorporated to capture enhanced audio and the cast was only given limited access to the machinery behind the cameras. Both Mann and Morey thought the set looked very realistic and felt as if they were in movie studios. Woodburne described the day of filming as very busy and explained that it was easy for her to know "what Susan would be feeling", especially due to her real-life experience as a volunteer cook for firemen. The storyline received positive attention from critics, who thought it was a step-up from the tornado plotline, although one outlet criticised it for its lack of realism.

Plot

When the news that Eden Hills Grammar has bought Erinsborough High School and plans to close it down gets out, principal Susan Kennedy and teacher Brad Willis brainstorm a school sleep-out to raise money and protest against the possible closure. Toadie Rebecchi, Lauren Turner, Paige Smith, Tyler Brennan and Sheila Canning are enrolled as supervisors. Everyone is forced to evacuate when someone falsely pulls down the fire alarm. Piper Willis and Ben Kirk separate themselves from the sleep-out and explore the school. They start a small fire in Susan's office to set off the alarms, then put the fire out and walk off, but the fire reignites itself. Toadie, who is in a wheelchair from a previous accident, looks at old graffiti drawn by himself and Billy Kennedy when the fire alarms go off again. Toadie brushes it off as another false alarm, but then spots flames ascending towards him and, after dropping his phone, he lifts himself out of his wheelchair to escape down the stairs, his only exit route. Brad kisses Lauren in the school corridors and they are spotted by Brad's ex-wife, Terese Willis. Lauren chases after an upset Terese and offers to escort Terese to the evacuation zone, but Terese says that she can go by herself. Susan and Amber Turner are cooking burger patties in a classroom and assume the smoke from the stove has set off the alarms, however when they go outside, they notice flames blocking off every direction, so they seek refuge back in the classroom, where Amber's water then breaks.
Paige and Tyler are in the lift together when it stops and smoke begins entering through under the door. They try to escape, but only let more smoke in, so they sit on the floor at the back of the lift and cover their mouths. Terese struggles to find the exit and Lauren catches up to her to help, but an explosion knocks a cabinet over them and they lose consciousness. Outside, Kyle Canning searches for Sheila, and Sonya Rebecchi worries for her husband, Toadie, who no one has seen. Piper and Ben make it out of the school and Karl Kennedy gives advice to Susan and Amber over the phone. Tyler confesses his love for Paige, then falls unconscious, before Mark Brennan saves them. As Sheila is running through the corridors, she hears Toadie calling for help and alerts Sonya after escaping. Brad finds Lauren and Terese, and is left to choose who to save. He carries Lauren to the exit only for Terese to regain consciousness and watch. When Brad returns, Terese has already been rescued. Sonya struggles to pull Toadie to the exit and Stephanie Scully helps her save him. Amber, who is now in labour, and Susan cover themselves in dampened towels and make their way out of the classroom, when the firefighters arrive and save them. In the aftermath, Amber gives birth to her daughter safely, while Terese is treated for four-degree burns and expresses her anger towards Brad for saving Lauren instead of her. Sheila begins helping the Rebecchis out of guilt for not saving Toadie herself, while the school is not sold to Eden Hills Grammar. Steph, Aaron Brennan, Jayden Warley and Sue Parker are all accused of starting the fire, but Ben and Piper eventually confess to the police after making a failed attempt to run away.

Regular cast appearances

Development

Neighbours first teased the storyline through trailers on television and their YouTube channels. The storyline was established as one of the major plotlines of 2015. It sees a number of Ramsay Street residents get caught in a fire at Erinsborough High during a "fundraising drive" sleepout to stop the closure of the school. The "dreadful" mayor, Paul Robinson, is behind the closure of the school, causing a disliking for Paul amongst many people, including Erinsborough High's principal, Susan Kennedy. Woodburne said of their relationship with each other, "I enjoy the relationship that Paul and Susan have; they have a mutual respect for each other. They're very very different and Susan can see him for the scammer he is but she’s also seen the vulnerable side of him. I think that side of him is the one she connects to."
Toadie Rebecchi, who is bound to a wheelchair, becomes trapped in the fire. He becomes stuck upon being forced to lift himself out of his wheelchair to escape down the stairwell. His wife, Sonya, rescues him with the help of Stephanie Scully, who has just returned to Erinsborough. Morey said that she was "pretty excited" when she learned that she would be saving Toadie instead of him saving her as he has in the past. Morey explained that Sonya arrives at the school during the fire, but struggles to find Toadie, "so she just runs off screaming". Morey explained that when Sonya finds Toadie, she struggles to pull him out of the fire "due to his weight and the smoke". Morey said it was "really cool" to do work on the fire as it differed to regular work on the serial.
Sonya is alerted of Toadie's location when Sheila Canning, a supervisor for the sleepout, tells her that she heard someone shouting out from down the corridor. Sheila makes a "very pathetic attempt" to help the person shouting for help, before abandoning them to save herself, which Mann described as "quite a sensible thing to do!" She begins feeling "riddled with guilt" for leaving, especially when she discovers that it is Toadie who was trapped, so she "does a whole bunch of really nice stuff for the Rebecchis". Sheila babysits their daughter, Nell, helps at Sonya's Nursery and helps Toadie book his appointments to repay them for leaving him, which the Rebecchis remain unaware of. Morey explained prior to the broadcast of the fire in the United Kingdom that she had yet to film scenes where Sheila gives an explanation for all the extra help she has been offering. Mann was "very pleased" to be incorporated into the storyline as she felt that she had "completely missed" 2014's tornado plot. She also laughed at the fact that she has asthma and her character would be in a fire.
Another plot that climaxes during the fire is the premature birth of Amber Turner's congenital diaphragmatic herniac daughter, Matilda. Amber goes into labour while trapped in a room with Susan. Whilst speaking to Tenplay, Woodburne explained that Susan manages to stay calm during the "life or death situation" as she is "motivated" to bring Amber to safety. She described it as overriding Susan's own panic and she called Susan "very frightened". She stated that for Susan, the situation is "unlike anything she has ever experienced before". Susan and Amber are forced to decide whether to "fight or flight", with Woodburne saying, that "they both stay in the room and definitely die or they go through the flames and possibly have a chance." Woodburne believed that Susan and Amber were "at the peak of fear anticipating that escape" and thought that their decision to leave was driven by Susan's love for her own children and grandchildren. As they are about to escape, the firefighters arrive and rescue them. The occasion marked the second fire Susan has been in.
The love triangle storyline between Brad Willis, Terese Willis and Lauren Turner peaks when Brad is forced to make a "terrible decision" on whether to save either Terese, his recently separated wife, or Lauren, the "love of his life" who he "adores". Gamblin teased the plot in a behind-the-scenes video. Fletcher thought that Terese was undeserving of Brad's actions. Paige Smith and Tyler Brennan are also "at the centre of the drama" upon getting trapped in the lift, resulting in Tyler falling unconscious. The culprit behind the fire is left unknown at the end of episode 7238 and when asked whether viewers would find out the identity of the arsonist immediately afterwards, Mann replied, "Oh no, of course not. It just goes on and on for a while until we find out who did it." Aaron Brennan, Jayden Warley, Sue Parker and Steph are all considered as suspects, the latter of whom is initially suspected by everyone as she is "randomly there at the school", which seems "weird". Piper Willis and Ben Kirk reveal themselves as the arsonists a month later after feeling a "tremendous amount of guilt".