Fire and Emergency New Zealand was called to a third fire in a week at the Glen Warren Reserve at 7.30am yesterday, after five blazes were lit, in a 100m radius, in a pathway of trees. Single fires were also been lit on Monday morning and last Wednesday.
Crews from Oamaru, Weston and Waitaki Rural Fire Brigades had been called to the incidents.
Waitaki Deputy Principal Rural Fire Officer Mike Harrison confirmed the fires were being treated as suspicious.
The behaviour was ‘‘extremely dangerous’’ and was putting residents, homes and firefighters at risk.
‘‘I don’t think people realise how much danger they are putting other people and their property in by doing this,’’ Mr Harrison said.
‘‘They might be getting a bit of a kick but, the risk is really, really high if something goes terribly wrong. It’s also putting our firefighters at risk and that’s just not acceptable.’’
Between 15 and 20 firefighters, all volunteers, had been called to the fires. It was using their time to ‘‘deal with something that’s totally unnecessary’’.
The fires were reported to police and Fenz was in contact with the Waitaki District Council, the owner of the reserve, he said.
Waitaki Rural Fire Brigade Deputy Controller Blair Brosnan echoed Mr Harrison’s comments and said the fires were a ‘‘real concern’’.
‘‘Not only could it potentially become a very big fire, the risk to life and property is very big here with it being surrounded by urban property,’’ Mr Brosnan said.
Fire crews returned to the area yesterday afternoon, as they had with the previous fires, to monitor the area.
Acting Sergeant Neil Rushton, of Oamaru, said lighting the fires was a ‘‘ridiculous thing to do’’ and it was lucky the ground was damp to stop them from spreading.
Police had no suspects yet.
Acting Sgt Rushton appealed for information of suspicious behaviour in the Reservoir Rd, Glen and Warren Sts areas, specifically after 11pm.
