Crews fight spate of fires in Dunedin overnight, 3 treated as suspicious

Firefighters were called to a spate of fires in and around Dunedin last night, with three being treated as suspicious.

Crews were called to five blazes across the district last night, all of which were contained as of 5am.

The first fire was at a residential property in Dunedin city just before 4pm. The house was fully ablaze when crews arrived.

Crews confirmed nobody was inside, and the blaze was contained at 9pm. A fire investigator will return this morning.

The second occurred in the Clutha district at around 8pm, when crews were called to reports of a large shed on fire.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson said "multiple structures" were lost in the fire, including a shed.

Four firetrucks, three tankers and a digger worked to extinguish the fire. This morning, crews were monitoring hotspots, with one truck still on site.

FENZ was alerted to the first suspicious blaze in Dunedin city at around 11.30pm, following reports of a house fire.

Four trucks and one ladder truck responded to the fire, which was contained by 12.30am and crews left by 3am. The fire was being treated as suspicious.

At 12.25am, crews were called to another house fire in Dunedin City.

The unoccupied house was "well ablaze" when crews arrived, and the flames were contained by 1am. The fire was also being treated as suspicious.

At 1.20am, crews were called to a tree fire in Westwood, where a 30m by 30m section of pine trees was on fire.

Two fire trucks, one tanker, and a rural truck were called to the scene.

The blaze was being treated as suspicious, and fire investigators would return to the scene this morning.