At about 12.10am on 28th February, Police attended a large party on Castle Street, Dunedin. The party involved several hundred party goers at two addresses and had attendees spilling out on to the road.
While containing the crowd, attending officers saw a fire at the rear of an address of Castle Street and investigated. A couch had been set on fire, and this had spread to the weatherboard exterior of the house.
The occupants were woken and evacuated, and the officers attempted to extinguish the flames before attending fire service units were able to fully put the fire out.
Damage was caused to the exterior weatherboarding of the house, with the fire being extinguished as it began to take hold within the exterior wall.
Inspector Kelvin Lloyd said that it was very lucky that the fire did not cause more damage than it did:
"This incident highlighted the dangers associated with the fire lighting issue in the student area. This is exactly the type of case we have been trying to prevent through the consistent and on-going messaging of Police, Fire and the University. We need to stop thinking that this is part of the culture of the area, and accept the very real dangers that this type of offending poses. This is more than high spirited antics and will result in a tragedy or injury if attitudes do not change. "
Enquiries into the incident are on-going and Police would like to speak with anyone that has any information that could assist with their enquiry.
ENDS
Released by Senior Sergeant Darryl Lennane, Southern Police