A Dunedin rental property was gutted early yesterday by what police believe to be a deliberately lit fire.
Detective Sergeant Brett Roberts said it appeared the fire started on the outside of the Bradshaw St house, at the rear.
"Basically, it's gone into the house and through the roof and pretty much stuffed it," he said.
He believed the fire, which started about 5am, was deliberately lit.
"There does not appear to be any legitimate cause for combustion."
The house, a rental property, was vacant at the time.
"We can't establish if there have been squatters, but we can establish that about 6pm or 7pm the night before there were a couple of 6-year-old children around the house, then the landlord was there about 9pm, and then the fire was at about 5am."
Property owner Hannah Jane said the fire was "devastating and pretty surreal", but she was glad the house was insured.
"It's good, too, that no-one was in there and no-one was injured," she said.
Det Sgt Roberts asked anyone with information about the fire, or any suspicious activity in the area, to contact Dunedin police on (03) 471-4800.
"We've got an issue with small fires around town and someone will know something. The only way we can deal with this is if someone helps us out."
