An isolated home and a bach rebuilt only days ago after an earlier arson attack have been destroyed by suspicious fires in the Far North.
Firefighters from the Russell brigade and Rawhiti's rural fire force were unable to save a three-bedroom home on Waikare Rd when fire broke out about 9.30pm on Wednesday night. The home's occupants, a man and a woman, were in Auckland at the time.
On Tuesday night, a bach on the west coast near Whangape Harbour was razed by fire. Isolated and inaccessible by road, the dwelling had been reduced to a smouldering ruin before the damage was noticed by a local farmer.
The bach was one of six burnt to the ground in December last year in an alleged revenge attack after the arrest of three Whangape residents on serious drugs charges. The trio, along with six others in Whangarei, Orewa and Auckland, were arrested when police shut down a major methamphetamine manufacturing operation in the remote rural area. Police found $300,000 worth of methamphetamine and $154,000 in cash, $100,000 of which was in an ammunition case buried in a paddock. They also seized assets worth $2 million under proceeds of crime legislation.
Police and specialist fire investigators were yesterday searching the remains of both dwellings for clues.
Fire investigator Gary Beer said the Waikare Rd home had been "totally destroyed". It was being treated as suspicious because it had no power and had been unoccupied for the previous four days while its owners were away.
"Put that together with no electricity to the house, and you have to say something's not right," he said.
It is understood the couple had been rebuilding after a house fire about three years ago.
Mr Beer said the bach razed on the coast between Whangape and Herekino was one of six burnt down in December. Its owners had only completed rebuilding on Sunday, a few days before the fire.
Many of the Whangape baches had been used by the same families for generations. While no one has been charged over the December fires, at the time locals blamed a bitter family feud in which some Whangape residents accused others of "narking" to police. Others were upset that a sacred mountain had been used to conceal drug labs.