Town on 24-hour fire-bug watch

Residents of arson-struck Kaitaia have started sleeping in their cars in a bid to catch the fire-bug who has plagued the Northland town.

It follows 26 fires in 13 months, which the Kaitaia Volunteer Fire Service has found to be deliberately lit. There were four attacks just last week, including at a netball club and the Far North District Council service centre.

The arson attacks have pushed the New Zealand Fire Service to hire a psychologist who has begun drawing up a profile of the arsonist to aid police.

"It's putting a lot of pressure on the brigade," says Colin Kitchen, support officer for Northland volunteer fire brigades. "It's having an effect on the volunteers, their families and employers."

The Kaitaia fire volunteers are called to about 240 incidents each year. As of last week, as the dry Far North summer dragged on, they were at close to 150 call-outs for the first third of the year.

The exhaustion is such that Kaitaia volunteers have accepted an offer from Auckland firefighters to relieve them for a weekend.

The fires have varied in impact. Some have been unsuccessful - the most recent only melted a water pipe, which doused flames. Others have been infernos. Kaitaia Primary School had a classroom and corridor burned out and Kaitaia Arts Centre was gutted.

The common fear among locals is someone will be killed before the arsonist is caught.

Most buildings attacked have been public service or state buildings. The arsonist typically strikes at night, using rubbish and twigs to build a pyre in a secluded area.

Signs have been put up in the past week offering $1000 for information leading to the arrest of the arsonist.

Mr Kitchen, also a Kaitaia Community Board member, said some locals were sleeping out to watch vulnerable areas. He has also told businesses to make sure no rubbish is left outside overnight, and that bins are emptied and kept away from buildings.

Chief fire officer Terry Houghton, in volunteer brigades for 47 years, has seen several fire-bugs.

When he started out in Thames, an arsonist in the town was exposed as a firefighter. The Kaitaia brigade has had to work through similar suspicions.

"It's a bloody nuisance. I know that. Dangerous too."

He's reached an understanding of why fire-bugs light fires. "It's the excitement of the engines going out on the calls. They can even get sexual stimulation, so I've heard, from fire."

Dave Collard, owner of Mussell Rock Bar, has suffered three attacks. He doesn't believe he has been targeted for any reason other than convenience - he kept leaving rubbish outside.

Jen Rawiri, at social agency Waitomo Papakainga, says the attack on that building showed the potential for disaster. The building contains emergency accommodation for young people, and is usually slept in by a staff member.

Her husband Roger managed to extinguish the fire before it did serious damage. Unattended, it could have killed anyone sleeping in the shelter.

When the Herald on Sunday visited the remains of Kaitaia Art Centre last week, centre secretary Fay McConnell had just heard that the council would not rebuild it. "We're continuing as a society," she says. "But we can no longer hold classes. It's a great loss."


- HERALD ON SUNDAY