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 (Stefan Dennis) 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 (Kip Gamblin), Lauren Turner (Kate Kendall) and Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou) when Brad chooses to save Lauren over Terese. Expecting mother Amber Turner (Jenna Rosenow) and Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) 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 (Ryan Moloney), who is in a wheelchair and is saved by his wife, Sonya (Eve Morey). Morey was glad with the storyline as it involved Sonya saving Toadie instead of the other way around. Sheila Canning (Colette Mann) 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 weary of Mann's asthma during the filming of the storyline by using 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 (Jackie Woodburne) and teacher Brad Willis (Kip Gamblin) brainstorm a school sleep-out to raise money and protest against the possible closure. Toadie Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney), Lauren Turner (Kate Kendall), Paige Smith (Olympia Valance), Tyler Brennan (Travis Burns) and Sheila Canning (Colette Mann) are enrolled as supervisors. Everyone is forced to evacuate when someone falsely pulls down the fire alarm. Piper Willis (Mavournee Hazel) and Ben Kirk (Felix Mallard) 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 (Jesse Spencer) 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 (Rebekah Elmaloglou). 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 (Jenna Rosenow) 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.