A review of all recent fires in the rural Far North has been been launched as police seek to allay fears of a serial firebug in the area.
At least three homes were destroyed, five people fled for their lives and two people died after a helicopter plunged into the sea as a large scrub fire tore across the Karikari Peninsula on Wednesday night.
The 40-hectare blaze was the 14th suspicious fire in 18 months on the peninsula.
Northland district commander Superintendent Russell Le Prou today said he was aware of community concern about the fires and would be asking for a review of all fires in the area.
"I am also ensuring that there will be a thorough investigation of the latest fire on Karikari Peninsula and would encourage anyone who has information on how it may have started to come forward,'' he said.
Mr Le Prou said police were committed to finding out what caused the fire, and their thoughts were with the families of the two men who died in the helicopter crash as they tried to help firefighters.
Some people in small communities found it difficult to come forward to police, but they could contact the anonymous Crimestoppers line if they wanted to help while keeping their identity secret.
Police want information from anyone who may have seen unusual activity on a private access road that leads from Matai Bay to the Karikari lighthouse.
They were particularly interested in an area beyond a locked gate.
Meanwhile, the Fire Service's top arson expert says the tragic consequences of the latest fire were likely unanticipated by the person who may have lit it.
Speaking from an arson conference in Australia, national arson reduction manager Peter Wilding said arsonists often did not appreciate the consequences of their actions, which in this case included "horrendous loss of life''.
"There's been tragedy in Northland, there's a couple of people who have lost their lives, and I think it would be fair to assume that the person who lit the fire wouldn't have been anticipating that, as tragic as that was,'' he told APNZ.
"What we have are fires that would appear to be deliberately lit - there's no other reasonable cause for these fires to have started.
"But all it takes is for an individual to be making a poor choice and lighting a fire to create these things. Once they've started there's no knowing how big they'll go or what the consequences will be.''
Mr Wilding said fires could make communities feel powerless.
"Unfortunately one of the things about fire is it often has a very high profile, it's very visible, the damage and the loss that can occur can be quite significant. And the impact goes beyond just firefighting.
"Many of the firefighters in Northland are volunteers, so they've left their jobs and their families to go and do this, and put themselves to some degree at risk in doing that.''
People often thought there was not much that could be done to address arson, but there were a number of things communities could do.
"Probably one of the strongest things communities can do is simply to report information - suspicious behaviour, cars in areas they shouldn't be, particularly in rural areas,'' Mr Wilding said.
"A key message here is even what could be seen to be insignificant information, when it's put together with other information coming in, starts to build a really clear picture.''
The National Rural Fire Authority yesterday met with the local council and extra relief staff were being brought in.
