Man arrested over fire that gutted Dunedin house

An alleged arsonist has been arrested and charged after a house in central Dunedin was gutted by a "deliberately lit" fire.

Neighbours in Lees St were woken in the early hours of Tuesday morning to find a huge blaze burning rapidly through an empty house.

Nearby residents were evacuated for hours as firefighters fought the blaze.

The 48-year-old would appear in Dunedin District Court today, Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said.

The Lees St blaze was one of three suspiciously lit fires in Dunedin over the period of several hours starting late on Monday night.

The first blaze at 11.30pm severely damaged a vacant commercial building on Harrow St. 

About an hour later, police were called to the Lees St fire.

A Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) spokesperson said that blaze reached second-alarm status, and half a dozen appliances were deployed.

The spokesperson said they were initially concerned the house was occupied, but that turned out not to be the case. 

Another hour later, emergency services were alerted to a fire in a stand of trees outside the Otago Pistol Club in Waldronville.

Five trucks, two tankers and two rural crews were sent to the scene and when crews arrived the flames were about 20 metres high.

Police said a stack of newspapers was located near the scene, he said.

This fire was also believed to be intentionally lit, and the blaze was believed to be burning for thirty minutes before it was extinguished.

A Fenz spokesperson said investigators would be looking into the fires.