West Coast police today expressed alarm at the number of arsons and attempted arsons in recent months.
This follows the attempted torching of a four-wheel-drive vehicle in Fox St, Cobden, at the weekend, an unexplained fire at the Cobden gun emplacement lookout, and a raft of other fires in Runanga, Greymouth, Camerons and Kumara in the past six weeks.
Prevention sergeant Andrew Lyes said the destruction of property and the threat to lives posed by deliberately lit fires was very serious.
"Police are appealing to the public for any information that might help identify those responsible and are asked to call police immediately if they notice any suspicious activity," Mr Lyes said.
A passerby in Fox St spotted an attempted arson about 10pm on Saturday after a tea towel was stuffed into the fuel tank of a Toyota Surf vehicle and set alight.
The passerby acted quickly and extinguished the fire using a garden hose.
Mr Lyes said police were "very keen" to hear of any information relating to the incident. They had conducted a scene investigation to gather evidence and inquiries were under way.
Information can be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Cobden Volunteer Fire Brigade fire chief Gary Pollock said they were called out yesterday to a beach fire and a deliberately lit fire at the gun emplacement about 1pm.
About five square metres of vegetation was alight at the emplacement, and the brigade had to use garden sprayers to extinguish the fire due to access difficulties.
The brigade also dealt to a small fire on the headland between Jellyman Park and the Cobden-Aromohana Sanctuary early in the evening.
Mr Pollock said it appeared some young people had lit the fire before leaving the scene.
In Hokitika, the brigade put out an apparently deliberately lit car fire on the beach early on Saturday, near Hampden St.
The vehicle had been left locked up after getting stuck in sand, and the owner had intended to tow it later that day.
Mr Lyes said investigations around recent arsons had not found they were linked.
"What has come out of all that is we've got these arsons and they are of a real concern."
- Brendon McMahon
