Firefighters dampen furniture on Castle St on Saturday
night to prevent people setting fire to it, after the
second spate of rubbish fires in the North Dunedin area.
Photo by Craig Baxter.
Firefighters took a proactive approach to their job and
dampened the spirits - and property - of North Dunedin
potential pyromaniacs on Saturday night.
Willowbank station personnel attended 14 rubbish and couch
fires, and Dunedin Central one, in North Dunedin over the
evening, which Station Officer Murray Little put down to "end
of exam excitement".
It was the "same scenario" as last weekend when the Fire
Service attended 31 callouts to the student quarter between
7pm Saturday and 7am Sunday, though more than one fire was
dealt with on each callout.
Those fires accounted for about one-quarter of all fires
reported in the South Island on Guy Fawkes night.
The crew decided to "be a bit proactive" this weekend and
turned the hose on couches, beds and "fuel for later in the
night" yet to be set alight.
Having to attend such fires was "very inconvenient" for the
station, which also acted as a rescue unit due to its
location near the northern motorway.
"If we are tied up with this kind of monkeying around, there
is a good chance we could be late to a serious incident," Mr
Little said.
- ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz
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