A fire in a skip in Musselburgh early on Saturday is being treated as suspicious and will be investigated along with four other fires police believe to be the work of an arsonist.
Police say they have increased patrols after the latest fire in Lochend St, which brings the number of recent suspicious fires in the South Dunedin area to five.
It follows an incident last week in which a Richardson St family was woken by police knocking on their door to tell them their house was on fire.
That fire was believed to have been started deliberately in a wheelie bin outside the residence and spread to exterior weatherboards.
The Richardson St house fire followed two cars being broken into and torched overnight on April 8, in Jackson and Bird Sts, and a commercial bus being set alight outside the nearby Ocean Beach Hotel, in Prince Albert Rd, on April 5.
Police said last week they believed the three vehicle fires were linked and the same person could be behind the arsons.
A police spokeswoman said police were informed about 10am on Saturday morning of a skip which had been on fire, and was put out a short time later.
Police had spoken to the informant and inquiries were ongoing.
Because there had been other fires in the area the latest fire would be looked at ''in context'' of those fires.
Constable Chris Lemon, of Dunedin, said: ''We are investigating the possibility that this fire is linked to reports of suspicious fires in the area and we have increased local patrols.''
Residents were asked to report any suspicious behaviour to Dunedin Police.
