Inquiry into suspicious car fire

Fire and Emergency New Zealand fire risk management officer Mark Bredenbeck, of Dunedin, looks at a late-model Toyota car parked in Burns St, Dunedin, which was extensively damaged in a suspicious fire at the weekend.

Firefighters from the St Kilda fire station were alerted to the fire at 11.03pm on Saturday and quickly extinguished the blaze.

Mr Bredenbeck said the fire was suspicious and had been referred to the police.

He and police had further investigated the fire yesterday morning, and the seat of the blaze had been within the car.

Asked if an accelerant had been used, he said items of interest had been recovered from the car and would be studied further.

A police spokeswoman confirmed police were continuing to investigate.