Whoever is deliberately lighting fires around Alexandra in tinder dry conditions is courting catastrophe and endangering the public, police and fire authorities say.
Four suspicious fires in the Pines reserve on the town's northern boundary in just over a week are being investigated and Alexandra police share the concerns of Alexandra Chief Fire Officer Russell Anderson, who says the fire-starter is putting lives at risk.
Sergeant Ian Kerrisk, of Alexandra, said any fire in the very dry conditions, especially if the undergrowth of the Pines caught fire, could be catastrophic.
A total fire ban is in place.
The fires have all been lit near mature pines on Central Otago District Council land, between Dunstan Rd and State Highway 8.
Mr Anderson said the trend was disturbing.
"If this doesn't stop, something major will happen," he said.
"It's only luck that's stopped any of these fires taking off and potentially, that would be catastrophic," he said.
Sgt Kerrisk said the police were working closely with the fire service and fire service investigators to find the person responsible.
The person was likely to be a local or staying locally and he appealed for anyone with information about the fires to contact police, even if anonymously.
Mr Anderson said two fire crews spent about an hour at the fire early on Sunday, making sure any hot spots were doused.
Alexandra's firefighters were volunteers and it was annoying to attend fires that had been deliberately lit.
"There's always a danger that if we're tied up attending calls like this - caused through someone's stupidity - it might delay us going to something like a motor vehicle accident, even though we prioritise calls," he said.
The Alexandra and Clyde Fire Brigades attended three suspicious fires in the first week of this year.
The first was caused by a man setting off fireworks in the Pines, while two teenage boys were responsible for the second fire which burned 1ha of land near houses in Clyde.
Alexandra brothers, aged 8 and 13, started the third fire, which burnt grass on an empty section in Orchard Dr, Alexandra.
None of those incidents was linked to the current series of fires, Sgt Kerrisk said.
