St Paddy's chaos: Man falls from roof as students light fires, take over Dunedin streets

Two people are in Dunedin Hospital with serious injuries after one fell off a roof and the other off a balcony in separate incidents while celebrating St Patrick's Day today.

After 2pm a man was taken away by St John ambulance after falling from the roof of a Castle St flat.

A reporter at the scene said the man appeared in poor condition.

Emergency services attend the scene on Castle St. Photo / Peter McIntosh

He was clapped by partygoers as he was taken away in a stretcher.

He gave a thumbs up as he left.

A St John spokeswoman said an ambulance and a rapid response vehicle went to the scene.

"One patient was treated and transported to Dunedin Hospital in a serious condition."

Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said police also assisted at the scene.

He said a 19-year-old man fell off the roof and sustained back injuries.

"This is a reminder that climbing on roofs at any time is risky behaviour and even more so when intoxicated."

Firefighters work through crowds of students at Castle St . Photo / Peter McIntosh

The St John spokeswoman said they also received a call to another serious incident in Park St about 4.30pm.

"One ambulance and one rapid response vehicle have responded to the scene."

She said they transported one person with serious injuries to Dunedin Hospital.

Police Sergeant Aaron Burgess told RNZ an intoxicated student fell off an internal balcony.

They had fallen backwards about 4m from an internal second floor balcony due to their intoxication levels.

They fell on their back and were unconscious for a time after the fall, he said.

St John were called to another incident just after 2pm, this time in Lovelock Ave.

"One ambulance and one rapid response vehicle responded to the scene and treated one patient in a moderate condition."

Burning couches

Senior Sergeant Bond also said police were called to a couch fire in Castle St about 9.30am.

"This is extremely dangerous and stupid as it was close to the building and posed a risk to the flat, as well as to the people standing close by," he said.

Police are investigating who lit it to hold them responsible.

A crew from Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) had to put out a burning couch in Castle St about 9am today.

A crew from Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) had to put out the blazing couch as more than 100 green-clad students partied on.

A Fenz spokesman said they were notified of a couch fire about 9am and one crew from Willowbank station was sent to put it out.

Later in the afternoon another couch fire at the Logan Park sports ground also prompted a Fenz callout.

Students were advised not to set things on fire, the spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for the university called the recent spate of couch fires ''disappointing'', saying the act could have serious consequences including disciplinary actions under the student code of conduct.

The proctor had sent out a letter to students in the run-up to St Patrick's Day, asking them to behave.

Along with Campus Watch, he had been working closely with Otago University Students' Association (OUSA) and police, she said.

Hundreds of drunk students

An ODT reporter in North Dunedin said by 9am, there were already hundreds of drunk students.

Many wandered from party to party in the student quarter in large groups.

One student said the couch fire, lit outside well-known party flat 'Deathstar', was ''a 10''.

She was disappointed by what she thought was a low number of party-goers, which she put down to it being quite early in the day, and thought there would be more flaming furniture later.

But her friend said couch fires were bad and felt for the Fenz crew being called out, as their time was being wasted.

Students celebrate St Patrick's Day in Castle St on Thursday. Photo / Peter McIntosh

Another student said he was concerned about the age of the couches being burned, believing some of them were up to 30 years old and could potentially pose an asbestos hazard.

"I don't condone it (couch burning) - but if you do, invite me," he said.

Another student had a simple Paddy's Day message: "Get drunk, f*** Covid."

She and her friends had gotten up at 5am to listen to Irish music and drink green-coloured alcohol that quickly sold out from liquor stores.

A student appears to add fuel to the couch fire.

"Bring it on," she said about couch fires.

Her friend said "the more the better," as the blazes would help students keep warm in the chilly weather.

A group of boys rated the Castle St party a seven out of 10. They believed there could be more later in the afternoon, but this would depend on if the sun came out or not.

Another student said he and his flatmates had started drinking at 5am, because it would have been ''rude not to''.

Between the four of them, they had "deleted" a box-and-a-half of alcohol by 9am.

They would play the day by ear and were not worried about Covid-19, as they had all had it and it had been pretty mild. The virus was ''a mindset'' which had been and gone, one said.

A few blocks away, a student streaked across North Ground, watched by friends drinking on the steps of the Alhambra-Union clubroom.

Students were in high spirits this morning. Photo / Peter McIntosh

Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said earlier in the day there were many students in the North Dunedin area who had "drunk a lot of alcohol already" by mid-morning, but besides the couch fire, behaviour had been "so far, so good".

"Overall the behaviour has been good, but unfortunately there have been a few idiots that Police have had to speak to to remind them of acceptable behaviour, and so far no arrests," he said.

Police had visited flats in North Dunedin to remind and educate partygoers of their obligations.

Officers were rostered on throughout the day and would be out and about until 3am. They were working with Campus Watch and had the ability to refer students to the University of Otago's proctor if needed, Senior Sergeant Bond said.