Fire in the sky

People flock to the dunes to see the flames, which were visible throughout Castlecliff.PHOTO/ANNE-MARIE McDONALD

Arsonists responsible for fires in Castlecliff on Tuesday could have ended up with "someone's life on their conscience".

Five fire trucks spent hours battling fires out in the seaside suburb on Tuesday night after someone "deliberately" lit at least three fires in different places among the sand dunes.

Whanganui fire senior station officer Bryce Coneybeer said two of the fires joined together, creating a 200-metre stretch of flames in the grass at Morgan St.

The blaze took about 2 hours to get under control, and could have threatened houses if there was any wind.

"People need to think about the consequences of something like that getting out of hand," Mr Coneybeer said.

"I'm sure that people who are lighting those fires wouldn't like to have someone's life on their consciences."

Firefighters were tied up at the scene for about four hours. They were alerted to the fire just before 9pm, and finished up about 12.30am.

"While we're out there, we can't be available to respond if someone had a house fire. It's not so long ago that we pulled someone out of a fire who would have perished if we'd been delayed five minutes - that can be the difference."

Mr Coneybeer said firefighters were "sure" the fires were deliberately lit.

A police dog was used after a fire was lit behind the Duncan Pavilion on Rangiora St, but the dog lost the scent in the sand dunes, Mr Coneybeer said.

"It's obvious someone's out there lighting them, and there could've been really serious consequences if there'd been a bit of wind blowing. It took a lot of men and a lot of equipment, because it was so spread out."

He asked people to be vigilant and call the fire service immediately if they saw smoke, or call police if they saw someone acting suspiciously.

Lighting fires was dangerous, not only for people living nearby and for firefighters having to battle the blaze, but also for anyone walking in the dunes, as the fire could spread quickly.

Mr Coneybeer expected a fire restriction would be on the cards soon, but said it was up to council when that would happen.

Flames from Tuesday's fire could be seen leaping into the sky from throughout Castlecliff, and smoke from the fires was seen from as far away as Aramoho and Durie Hill.