An isolated home and a bach rebuilt only days ago after an earlier arson attack have been destroyed by suspicious fires in the Far North.
Firefighters from the Russell brigade and Rawhiti's rural fire force were unable to save a three-bedroom home on Waikare Rd when fire broke out about 9.30pm on Wednesday night. The home's occupants, a man and a woman, were in Auckland at the time.
On Tuesday night, a bach on the west coast near Whangape Harbour was razed by fire. Isolated and inaccessible by road, the dwelling had been reduced to a smouldering ruin before the damage was noticed by a local farmer.
The bach was one of six burnt to the ground in December last year in an alleged revenge attack after the arrest of three Whangape residents on serious drugs charges. The trio, along with six others in Whangarei, Orewa and Auckland, were arrested when police shut down a major methamphetamine manufacturing operation in the remote rural area. Police found $300,000 worth of methamphetamine and $154,000 in cash, $100,000 of which was in an ammunition case buried in a paddock. They also seized assets worth $2 million under proceeds of crime legislation.
Police and specialist fire investigators were yesterday searching the remains of both dwellings for clues.