Spate of Gore arsons destroy building and cars

10.05am

Firefighters and police have been busy over the past two nights dealing with a spate of arsons in the Southland town of Gore.

Six fires have been lit since the start of Thursday night.

Inspector Warren Kemp, of the Police Southern Communications Centre, said police and firefighters were called to three fires in the city last night.

The worst fire destroyed a building at a car yard, along with two cars, he said.

Another six to eight vehicles were damaged.

In a separate fire a truck was destroyed, and firefighters put out a third where tyres had been placed against a building and set alight. Firefighters were able to put out the fire before it reached the building.

A fourth attempted arson, where a bottle of accelerant was placed against a building, was also detected.

The arsons follow three fires in Gore of Thursday night, where three separate cars were set alight and destroyed.

Detective Sergeant Steve Gregory, of Gore police, said he believed the fires were the work of one person.

"Arsonists are usually loners. We have nothing to suggest that there is more than one person involved."

Police were analysing the scenes from this morning's fires, which were lit about 3am within a few hundred metres of one another.

The car-yard fire had caused about $90,000 damage to vehicles at the yard alone, he said.

Police had also called in a specialist tracker dog from Invercargill to help with their inquiries.

Mr Gregory said the arsonist could strike again and there was the potential people could be hurt.

He said anyone who knew anything about the fires should contact police.

- NZPA