Dannevirke vehicle fires: Two ‘suspicious’ fires on same street a day apart not related, police say

A Dannevirke woman is fed up after a car outside her property caught fire, a night after another family in the same street watched their ute burn after seeing masked men throw a “firebomb” into the vehicle.

The witness to the second car fire on Tennyson Street on Sunday, said she was woken by her husband who had heard boy racer activity half an hour before the car was seen ablaze, at about 5.30am.

A witness said the car didn't have two back tyres.

She said the car did not belong to them and was not outside the property when she arrived home from a night out, before midnight.

She said she felt boy racers may have been to blame.

“What we think happened is they have done burnouts and it looks like they have made it as far as here with no back tyres and that was where it stopped. They kept trying to go and the car has blown up.

“This is where they ended.”

The witness said her daughter was scared by what had happened and hid under the bed covers when she had the opportunity to see the fire being put out.

“Her being scared is what upsets me the most.”

She said security footage had been supplied to the police that showed the vehicle’s occupants running away, but she had not seen that footage herself.

“So many of us have cameras out on the street and what they don’t realise is that they are going to get caught because we can all see.”

A witness said the fire in Dannevirke was at about 5.30am on Sunday.

The witness said she had been unaware of a previous car fire that had happened a day earlier, on Saturday, June 15.

In that fire, a ute parked on the street was thought to have been set alight, with the owner of the car saying her daughter saw masked men throwing a firebomb through it.

About 45 minutes earlier at 3am the ute’s alarm had gone off.

“There is nothing we can do about it and we just have to get on with it,” the witness said.

Annette Lilo's 2022 Ford Ranger was set on fire by what she described as a fire bomb thrown by masked men in Dannevirke.

Both fires being treated as suspicious

Tararua Police’s response manager Carey Williamson said both fires were being treated as suspicious but were not believed to be connected.

“All of the indications are that both fires have been intentionally lit.”

Williamson said the vehicle on Sunday was involved in a traffic incident before being found on fire.

“We are interested in hearing from anyone who has information about either fire.”

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson confirmed firefighters attended both incidents on the same street a day apart.

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay newsrooms. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.