Fear stalks Morrinsville as arsonist sets 10 fires

An arsonist is on the loose in Morrinsville, the Fire Service and police warn, after firefighters battled 10 blazes on Tuesday night.

Small heaps of charred cardboard lay at the rear of businesses across the town yesterday morning, the acrid smell left by the fire-bug wafting through their doors.

In an hour from about midnight, the arsonist lit fires in cardboard recycling bins and rubbish skips.

As 16 firefighters from Morrinsville and Te Aroha put out one blaze, another plume of smoke would rise in a nearby street as the fire-starter wandered just out of their reach.

"It was so still, you could see where the next one was coming from as the smoke rose," said chief fire officer Brian Watters.

Said Morrinsville detective Pete Whittaker: "We were very very lucky, for it had the potential to destroy a town."

Firefighters prevented further damage by dousing any unlit recycling bins in the town.

"We've escaped with very minor damage," said Mr Whittaker,

But the town is on alert for a second strike.

Gwen Lowe, from the Vege Bin, was one of those targeted. Pallets at the side of her shop were set alight.

She had already suffered three arson attacks over the past 11 years at shops she owns with her husband, Ray.

Buildings the couple own in the main street of Morrinsville were targeted about four years ago and almost destroyed, she said.

Three years ago, a fire lit at the Vege Bin destroyed its chillers and the back of the shop, and Mrs Lowe says she watched while the Morrinsville supermarket, which housed a shop owned by the couple, burned down in 1994.

Police are advising business-owners in the town to get rid of their rubbish and not leave cardboard or other flammable material outside their shops.

Mr Whittaker said police were looking at video surveillance tapes from local shops and were speaking to people in the area at the time of the fires.