Weekend sparks Far North firebug fear

Four fires lit within one hour near Kaipara in the Far North is causing concern for locals. Photo / file

A firebug is feared on the loose in the Kaipara after four suspiciously lit, early morning scrub fires within about an hour threatened lives and put property at risk in a small Northland community.

The spate of fires, lit within a 20-kilometre radius, kept Dargaville fire brigade and Kaipara rural fire crews busy from 2am to about 3.30am on Saturday.

Dargaville chief fire officer Michael King said the nuisance fires, all on State Highway 12 at Parore, Mamaranui and Kaihu, had been reported to police to investigate.

"These are not significant fires but we believe they were deliberately lit. It's pretty quiet at this time of the year. These ones are too coincidental,'' he said.

Mr King said as one fire was put out, another flared just up the road.

The first callout was about 2.20am at Parore, followed by Mamaranui half an hour later.

About 20 minutes later, firefighters rushed to another location at Mamaranui, then to Kaihu at 3.30am.

Mr King said scrub fires had the potential to turn into a massive blaze, similar to the one experienced at Pouto Peninsula last December that ripped through 115ha of pine forest.

The cost of fighting that fire was estimated at up to $750,000, on top of the estimated $1 million worth of pine trees lost in the blaze.

"We managed to respond on time. The danger is there is a lot of forestry in Rotu and Mamaranui and these fires, if not attended to on time, could easily get up there,'' Mr King said.

"People should watch it out there.

"A fire ban in Kaipara should be in place in the near future and anyone who sees anything suspicious should call police.''

The Kaipara fires were followed by another scrub fire at Franklin St in Opua about 4.30pm on Saturday.

Two fire appliances from Paihia managed to bring the blaze under control.

Paihia chief fire officer Shane Schrafft said the fire had the potential to be quite serious, as a chemical storage facility was located between 50 and 100 metres downhill.

He said the 30m-wide and 200m-long fire was quickly contained before it could get towards the Opua ferry area.

Mr Schrafft believed the fire was deliberately lit and said police had been notified.

He warned people against lighting fires because the Far North was extremely dry.

Last week, a major fire swept through 318ha of a Far North pine plantation, threatening homes and forcing evacuations.

The blaze is believed to have been started by workers on a government employment scheme clearing scrub for a coast-to-coast cycle trail.

A fire ban has already been declared in the Far North and the rest of Northland may follow suit with conditions tinder dry after no significant rain for months.