A fire at an abandoned Dunedin hospital, which witnesses said was lit by school pupils, put firefighters at risk, a firefighter says.
The hospital, which was abandoned in 2011, had already been the scene of two quite intense fires in the upper floors and it was an extremely unsafe building.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand Senior Station Officer Mark Leonard, of Dunedin, said crews were called to the former Glamis Hospital, in Montpellier St, Dunedin about 2.30pm.
They found a chair and couch on fire in an exposed basement area under the building, which they quickly extinguished, SSO Leonard said.
The fire was deliberately lit, he said.
Firefighters work at the scene of a deliberately lit fire at the former Glamis Hospital building in Montpellier St, Dunedin. Photo: Peter McIntosh
"Things like this put fire crews in danger," SSO Leonard said.
Scaffolder Hoani Singh was working nearby when he saw a group of six school pupils on the site.
He later heard a big bang and looked over to see "a big roaring fire" and the pupils running away.
