Burnt down: a shed at the rear of a house on Heuheu Parade, Tauranga-Taupō .
Burnt down: a shed at the rear of a house on Heuheu Parade, Tauranga-Taupō .
Police and fire investigators are looking into a series of suspicious fires that affected four Lake Taupō holiday homes early on Sunday morning.
Two baches and one shed burnt down, while a fourth fire failed to take hold.
The fires are currently under active investigation by both Fire and EmergencyNew Zealand (FENZ) and New Zealand Police.
Assistant fire commander Hamish Smith said fire crews attended three incidents between 3.15am and 4am on Sunday morning. Fire crews came from Tūrangi, Taupō, Rotorua, Tokoroa, Lake Ōkataina and the rural fire crew from Omori also attended.
An unoccupied home on Waitetoko Rd burnt down, with the fire spreading to the neighbouring property where people were sleeping. Mr Smith said the neighbours escaped without injuries.
On the same night, an occupied house in Areta Lane, Hatepe, was set on fire. The house was destroyed by the blaze. Mr Smith confirmed all occupants made it out in time.
A Tauranga-Taupō resident smelt burning at midnight on Saturday and neighbours had buckets out at 3am in an attempt to douse a shed that was on fire at the rear of a house on Heuheu Parade. Fortunately the shed fire did not spread to the unoccupied house.
Burnt down: a shed at the rear of a house on Heuheu Parade, Tauranga-Taupō .
Another unoccupied Heuheu Parade property was also targeted, however the fire failed to take hold.
Mr Smith says all fires attended by FENZ are treated as being suspicious.
"The first step is to do a fire investigation for each individual fire, and then work with police to see if there is a link."
Sergeant Te Reipa Morunga of Tūrangi Police praised the efforts of the Tūrangi Fire Brigade and the other firefighters who attended.
He said police were carrying out enquiries. Anybody in the community with information about suspicious behaviour in the areas at the times of the fires should contact Police on the non-emergency number 105 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
