Please attribute to Detective Sergeant Chris Henderson:
Southern Police are appealing to the public to report any suspicious behaviour they may see after a series of fires in Dunedin over the past few weeks.
On Saturday April 15th at 11:40pm, Police were conducting mobile patrols in the St Kilda area in relation to previous fires when they came across a house alight near the intersection of Moreau Street and Richardson Street.
Flames from a wheelie bin set on fire on the eastern side of a house on Richardson Street had spread to the wooden weatherboards of the property and the side of the house was well ablaze.
Officers alerted the occupants and got them safely out of the building before controlling the fire with extinguishers from their patrol car and the house.
Fire were notified by Police and attended to fully put out the blaze.
This incident comes after a number of recent vehicle fires in Dunedin over the past week.
On Wednesday April 5th, a commercial bus was gutted by fire and Dunedin CIB is also investigating two car fires from the weekend of April 8th and 9th.
The cars, in Jackson Street and Bird Street, appeared to have been set on fire on the Friday night or early Saturday morning.
The cars were parked near the Ocean Beach Hotel, close to where an Atomic Shuttles bus burnt on Wednesday night.
Police will continue to patrol the area but are asking for anyone with any information to contact us.
Anyone with any information about any of these incidents is asked to contact Dunedin Police on (03) 471 4800. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre