Firebug-probe team seek hooded man

By PATRICK GOWER

A hooded man may hold the key to the night of fires across downtown Auckland that caused damage estimated at several million dollars.

Police have released security camera footage of the man (left) outside a Queen Street shop which is within the vicinity of seven of the 14 sites at which fires were set two weeks ago tonight.

They believe the same person or people are behind all of the fires.

The officer leading the police hunt, Detective Senior Sergeant Jon Moss, last night called on the pictured man to come forward.

"These are the clearest pictures we have of anybody. He may wish to come forward to eliminate himself from the inquiry. Or someone may know him and tell us who he is."

The footage comes from a camera at the Line 7 shop in lower Queen Street. It is one of 15 private cameras police have checked, as well as their network of 12 cameras, which were not being monitored at the time.

The footage shows a man dressed in a waist-length top with a hood that is pulled over his head. The man, who had white sports shoes and a dark bag, was filmed about 5.30am on Wednesday, July 16.

Police had attended the last of the night's fires about 4.30am.

One of the nearby fires was in the Guardian Trust building, which destroyed the entire second storey. The bill for damage to the building is in the millions. Most of the other fires caused only minor damage.

The death of mental health outpatient Maria de Silva, who set herself on fire in Aotea Square the same night, is thought to be a tragic coincidence.

Fifteen police officers are still working on the inquiry.

* Anyone who knows the man can call Operation Fire on 0800 803 473.