A fire at the Dunedin City Library early yesterday was one of six suspicious fires across the city in a 12-hour period.
Library services manager Bernie Hawke said some form of "inflammable material" had been pushed through the return slot for audio-visual items at the library in Moray Pl.
About half a dozen DVDs in one of three bins inside the fire-proof, concrete-lined room were destroyed and smoke affected books in the other bins.
A locked door was also damaged as the Fire Service gained access to the building.
Mr Hawke agreed the fire was disappointing, but said it was the first he had experienced at the Dunedin library in his eight and a-half years there.
A similar incident had occurred at Mosgiel two months ago, he said.
Yesterday's fire set off an automatic alarm and the fire service attended at 5.15a.m.
Senior Station Officer Lindsay Rae said it was "highly probable" the fire had "some connection" with other fires in the central city area earlier in the morning.
At 4.05am, the fire service was called to a suspicious fire in a sanitation device in public toilets in Hanover St and, at 4.58am, firefighters were called to a smouldering skip outside the NZ Blood donor centre, at the corner of St Andrew and Cumberland Sts.
Mr Rae urged the public to be vigilant and report suspicious behaviour.
Although the fires were minor, the concern was what they could develop into, he said.
The spate of suspicious fires began with a fire in rubbish in the women's toilets at Marlow Park, Tainui, at 4.42pm on Wednesday.
A mattress at 49 Duncan St was set on fire at 9.24pm.
And a Toyota Land Cruiser station wagon parked in a car park at Semple Rd, off Double Hill Rd, Waitati, was set alight about 10.55pm.
Waitati deputy chief fire officer Lindsay Scott said the petrol and lpg-powered vehicle was a "total write off".
The owner, Jared Vercoe, said he and a friend were on their way back to the vehicle from a pig hunting expedition in the Silver Peaks when they heard a "big explosion" - the result of the cylinder of lpg catching fire.
The vehicle was well ablaze when they reached it.
"It's not what you expect when you go for a walk in the bush," Mr Vercoe told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
The 18-year-old vehicle was insured, but he was not certain whether his insurance covered arson.
Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis, said police were investigating and would like another pig hunter in the area, who was not considered a suspect, to come forward.
