Copy-cat arsonist in Hastings suspected

Press, 20 November 1989, Page 6

Copy-cat arsonist in Hastings suspected

By

BARRY CLARKE and PA

A copy-cat aronist may have been responsible for a suspicious fire in Hastings during the week-end, the police said last evening.

A fire was lit in the toilets at the Heretaunga Park Motor Inn

about 9.15 p.m. on Saturday , fuelling the belief publicity about the spate of blazes on Fridy could prompt more arsons. “It tends to happen. They seem to want to jump on the bandwagon,” a spokesman said. The police are no closer to finding the arsonist or arsonists responsible for Friday’s blazes. All available officers were again patrolling Hastings last evening. The fire at the motor inn was started in the toilets off the main

foyer of the hotel. Toilet tissues were stuffed into the ceiling of the toilet and deliberately set alight. There was some damage to wiring. No extra fire-fighters were placed on stand-by last evening after officers finished mopping up the Fruitgrowers’ Federation yard, scene of the biggest blaze on Friday. About $1.3 million damage is estimated to have been caused. The Hastings police said they might enlist the help of psycho-

logists at national headquarters in Wellington in their hunt for the pyromaniac behind the arsons. I

Detective Sergeant Rick Graham said he was considering asking Dr lan Miller to provide a profile of the offender. “I can say without a doubt we are looking at someone with a

psychological problem,” Detective Sergeant Graham said.

Millions of dollars of damage to city shops, houses and factories had resulted from Friday’s fires. They were the latest in a string of smaller arsons, which include the gutting of two shops and an unoccupied house earlier in the month. Detective Sergeant Graham said he had never encountered a string of arsons quite like it and it was hard to figure out the mind and motives of a pyro-

maniac so active. There was a constant threat of another attack at any time, with a potential for death. He said a suspect list had been drawn up of people with" a history of similar crimes and people nominated by locals. In Auckland four classrooms at Kelston intermediate school were destroyed by fire early on Saturday morning in the worst of seven suspicious fires in the city between late Friday night and early Saturday morning.

A block of three classrooms and a teachers’ resource room were gutted and the damage is estimated at $500,000.

The Fire Service also attended a restaurant fire in Pakuranga, a bus shelter set alight in Devonport, a newspaper dispenser fire in the central city and two car fires.