A burnt out couch on Cumberland St (SH1) in Dunedin. Photo: Tess Brunton / RNZ
Police and firefighters have again been targeted by fireworks in Dunedin's student quarter, forcing them to leave two couch fires burning because it was too dangerous to intervene.
Officers arrested three people after a wild night of disorder on Castle Street, following similar behaviour on Monday night.
Sergeant Matt Lee said about 80 people were letting off fireworks and drinking in the street.
"Police attended and unfortunately some attendees decided to aim fireworks at officers which is reckless and dangerous. Thankfully, no one was injured," he said.
"There were around 80 people on the street and despite multiple warnings they continued to shoot fireworks at our staff.
"As a result, three males were arrested for disorderly behaviour and transported to the Dunedin custody unit. They all received a formal warning, however, two of the men will be receiving infringement notices for discharging fireworks in a public place," he said.
Fire and Emergency confirmed they were unable to put out two couch fires due to being shot at with fireworks.
Fire and Emergency spokesperson, Craig Geddes, said crews attended five fires in the student quarter, but had to leave two to burn themselves out.
"Firefighters were being targeted directly with fireworks and as a result the officer in charge withdrew for the safety of our firefighters and making sure there was no serious injury or harm from putting out the fire," he said.
"They were targeted with fireworks being fired directly at the fire engine and the personnel themselves."
Fire and Emergency was helping police efforts to find the people responsible and hold them to account, Geddes said.
"It's pretty disappointing behaviour and the other concern I've got is while I've got that fire appliance tied up at that avoidable incident, they're also significantly delayed in getting to any other incident where people genuinely need our help. Any delay - that costs lives."
A University of Otago spokesperson confirmed the proctor was investigating Thursday night's disorder on Castle Street.
"The university is extremely concerned by the incident on Castle Street last night, where fireworks were reportedly aimed at officers. This behaviour is totally irresponsible and completely unacceptable. We expect our students to show respect to responders and the wider community," the spokesperson said.
"The proctor is actively investigating this incident, along with another earlier in the week."
Firefighters were also called to a blaze at Dunedin's Tomahawk Beach stretched 100 metres long and three metres wide.
Fire and Emergency's community education and behaviour manager Tom Ronaldson said the beach fire was the biggest on Wednesday.
"That took nine crews at its peak over two hours to extinguish," he said.
"Then down in Wānaka, we also saw a cluster of fires that tied up our resources for another few hours there."
He said calls varied from small backyard blazes that threatened homes to vegetation fires in sand dunes.
No one was injured, and there was no significant property damage.
Although it was a busy night, it was "certainly less eventful" than previous years despite warm and windy conditions, Ronaldson said.
But he asked people to remain cautious.
"They may be waiting until the weekend to start their fireworks celebrations ... don't set them off if they're [conditions] windy and make sure that you are following our safety advice," he said.
Ronaldson also warned people against saving up fireworks for Christmas and New Year celebrations.
"Those conditions change significantly, so it gets warmer, drier and hotter and we do see higher winds, so we ask that if you have bought fireworks during this period, that you are making sure that you're using them when it's obviously safe to do so, but not stockpiling them for the summer."
FENZ has been warning there's a high risk of vegetation fires because of dry and windy conditions.
"You can go outside and you can feel if it is windy, and if it is - do not set off fireworks, it is that simple,"
FENZ national manager Adrian Nacey earlier told RNZ fireworks caused issues when they ended up in areas that made it difficult for them to be put out.
He said lighting fireworks was banned from most public areas.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
