Police fear serial firebug on the loose

Court sittings have been disrupted as a string of arson attacks in Rotorua yesterday caused thousands of dollars of damage.

Police and fire officers fear a serial firebug may be on the loose after the Te Ngae police station, Rotorua Courthouse and Rotorua Girls' High School were targeted between 5.30am and 6.50am.

Rotorua police area commander, Inspector Bruce Horne, said steps were being taken to prevent further fires at public buildings.

Investigators were interested in any sightings of a white car seen speeding at dawn yesterday along Vaughan Rd near the Te Ngae community police centre.

Mr Horne said the spate of arsons was being treated seriously. "Once someone sets off a fire they have lost control of it and there is always potential for loss of life."

City fire chief Wayne Bedford said it was possible someone had "a real snitcher on the police" or was hitting out at authority generally.

The pattern - breaking windows to get inside, wrenching open internal doors to secure areas, gathering paper and other inflammable materials and setting them alight - suggested the same person or people were responsible.

It was too coincidental for the fires not to be linked, Mr Bedford said.

Use of an accelerant was suspected but forensic experts from Auckland, fire-safety officers, detectives and uniformed police staff were still sifting through the sites yesterday and would be continuing their investigation today.

Initial concern that City Focus in Rotorua's central shopping district had also been a target was soon dismissed.

Fluid thought to have been an accelerant on a roller door turned out to be a "very strong cleaner", said Mr Bedford.

Businesspeople in central Rotorua and schools have been warned to make sure no rubbish or "anything ignitable" was left around.

Te Ngae community police centre, the first building hit, has been vacated temporarily, as has the Courthouse about 5km away where a fire was set 20 minutes later. Both buildings will need a total refit, said Mr Horne.

Court fixtures had to be rescheduled to nearby buildings.

About 4km away on Old Taupo Rd, Rotorua Girls' High students had been back from their summer break for only a day. Principal Annette Joyce said she had received in the early morning "the call you never ever want to get, telling you your school's on fire".

Two classrooms in the maths block had been firebombed, with one suffering structural damage. In three other rooms, fire had smouldered but did not go out of control.