Suspicious car fires in Whanganui and Marton under investigation

Firefighters responded to car fires in Whanganui and Marton overnight, with both being treated as suspicious.

Two recent car fires in Whanganui and Marton are being treated as suspicious.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand shift manager Simon Lyford said two fire trucks from Whanganui responded to a car that was fully involved with fire in a Tongariro St driveway at 2.14am on Wednesday.

“The car was well ablaze,” Lyford said.

Firefighters put out the car fire by 3am and prevented it from spreading to the house on the property.

“It is being treated as suspicious,” he said.

A police spokesman said they held a scene guard until a fire investigator could “get in to have a look this morning”.

Lyford said fire services were called to a car on fire that had spread to surrounding grass on Kakariki Rd, Marton about 11.30pm on Tuesday.

“When they arrived, they found one car fully involved, as well as an area of vegetation approximately 30m by 10m,” he said.

A fire truck and water tanker from Marton attended the scene, he said.

At 12.30am the fire had been put out and crews left the scene.

A police spokesman said the Marton car fire had not yet been handed over to police to investigate.

There were no injuries as a result of either car fire and it appeared both vehicles were unoccupied at the time the fires began, he said.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.