Firebug fears remain in Far North despite arrest

An arsonist could still be burning a trail around the Far North despite the arrest of Kaitaia's suspected serial firebug, police say.

They are urging Far North residents to remain vigilant with several suspicious blazes around the district still a mystery.

Broadwood-based Lee Jo van Haaren, aged 42, appeared in the Kaitaia District Court yesterday charged with 21 counts of arson in relation to fires allegedly lit around the town between November 23 last year and May 19.

She also faced charged of possession of cannabis and smoking cannabis.

Police opposed bail for van Haaren, who was born in Australia, and Judge Timothy Druce remanded her in custody until June 22 and asked for a psychiatric report to be carried out.

She made no plea to the charges.

Kaitaia police chief Senior Sergeant Gordon Gunn said that, despite the woman's arrest, several other suspicious fires had been lit around the Far North in the past year that he did not believe were related.

Mr Gunn urged the Kaitaia community to remain vigilant in case there was still an arsonist in the vicinity.

Van Haaren has been charged with the blaze that put a six-classroom block out of action at Kaitaia Primary School on May 19.

But Mr Gunn said suspicious bush and scrub fires, as well as fires that destroyed several hundred hectares of the Department of Conservation's Te Paki and Kaimaumau reserves earlier this year, were still being investigated.

He said the strain on the community since the spate of arsons started had been enormous.

"There has been a lot of uncertainty," he said. "The finger of suspicion has been pointed in all directions, but we kept an open mind all the way through."

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)