Second night of bin fires extinguished by fire crew

Friday, 18 February 2022

The Nelson Fire Station crew was called to a number of bin fires after dealing with similar suspicious fires the previous night.

Late night bin fires had Nelson firefighters hauling out the hoses for the second night in a row.

On Thursday night between 10.50pm and 11.50pm, four fires were extinguished by the Nelson Fire Station crew.

Fenz shift manager Brodie Keay said the first bin fire was near Auckland Point School on Haven Rd at 10.55pm, closely followed by a rubbish bin fire behind the Elma Turner Library on Halixfax St 10 minutes later.

At 11.15pm, a third fire was reported at Spotlight Nelson on Hastings St where a pallet was on fire, he said.

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Keay said just before midnight, a fourth fire was spotted by the fire crew on their return from Hastings St. A small wheelie bin was on fire in Trafalgar Park.

All fires were extinguished and reported to police.

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A police spokesperson said enquiries were being made to locate the offender, and they were concerned “about any instances of alleged arson”.

Nelson senior station officer Gavin Scott said the person lighting the fires was “tying up resources that are better used elsewhere”.

He said there was a real risk in setting bins alight, especially when they were near buildings.

“They are being treated as suspicious. It’s certainly quite a few years since we’ve had a spate of suspicious bin fires.”

Scott encouraged the public to keep an eye for anything suspicious in regard to the late-night bin fires.