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Two young people suffered serious injuries as St Patrick’s Day shenanigans spiralled out of control in Dunedin’s student quarter.

• St Patrick's Day in pictures

The day of partying, which started at 5am for many, had soured by the early afternoon as injuries, couch fires and extreme intoxication left emergency services scrambling.

About 2pm the mood flipped after a 19-year-old man fell from a second storey roof at a Castle St flat.

A St John spokeswoman said he was taken to hospital in a serious condition with back injuries.

In another incident, about 4.30pm, a 22-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious head injuries by emergency services staff using a Stokes basket after a house party in Park St went awry.

Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond of Dunedin said the injuries were ‘‘always disappointing".

The young man who fell of the roof had been told to get off the roof beforehand.

"That's the reason why we do it, to protect them from themselves," he said.

Regarding the Park St incident it was ‘‘always distressing’’ to come across someone injured with blood coming out their ears.

Officers had made inquiries to hospital today and the man was conscious and speaking.

The prognosis so far was he would only have long term concussion, Snr Sgt Bond said.

St John was also called to Brackens View, next to the Northern Cemetery, about 2pm, where about 200 students were gathered. It treated one person in a moderate condition.

Other people were slumped under trees suffering from acute intoxication or had minor scrapes and lacerations from falling over.

St John Otago area operations manager Doug Third said students were generally well behaved, but some were very intoxicated.

Workloads were already stretched because of Covid-19 and St John staff did not need the extra stress of dealing with preventable problems caused by intoxication.

"We have jobs stacked the whole time and demand exceeds our available resources a lot of the time".

More staff had been rostered on, but it was not enough to get on top of it, he said.

The chaos in the student quarter started early as partygoers lit a couch fire outside a Castle St party flat, nicknamed Deathstar, about 9am.

Another was lit near Harbour Tce about 2.30pm.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said it was smouldering when it was put out by a fire crew.

A second fire crew was called as backup due to the number of students nearby, he said.

Partying students spoken to on Castle St after the first fire was lit were broadly supportive of the decision to set lounge furniture ablaze.

One young male said the event was "a 10" and believed there should be more couches set on fire.

Others agreed, with one female student saying "the more the better," because the blazes helped students keep warm in the chilly weather.

One young man said he felt bad for the fire brigade being called out and having their time wasted.

One student said he and his mates were not worried about Covid as they had all already had it and it had been pretty mild.

The virus was "a mindset" which had been and gone, he said.

Snr Sgt Bond said lighting couch fires was "extremely dangerous and stupid," especially as the one lit in the morning had been close to a residential building.

Overall behaviour had been good, but there were a "few idiots" who had to be reminded of acceptable behaviour.

Police had been working with Campus Watch and had the ability to refer students to the university’s proctor if necessary.

Extra officers had been rostered on throughout the day and were out until 3am.

A University of Otago spokeswoman said the proctor had sent out a letter to students before St Patrick’s Day, asking them to behave.

The recent spate of couch fires was labelled "disappointing" and students were reminded the act could have serious consequences, including disciplinary actions under the student code of conduct.