Fire authorities attend the site of one of the fires in Arorangi Photo: RNZ Pacific / Flo Syme Buchanan
Two expert insurance fire investigators from New Zealand are in the Cook Islands examining a second commercial property to go up in flames in the same Rarotonga village in the past week.
Police spokesman Trevor Pitt said given the proximity between the properties and the time that the fires began, raises suspicions that they could be the result of arson.
The insurance fire investigators have offered to assist local Police and the Fire Service to establish how the two shops in Arorangi caught fire.
Mr Pitt says Police have established lines of inquiry, who potential witnesses could be and issued an appeal for anyone with any information about the fires to come forward.
He says all information will be treated in confidence.
The gutted interior in the latest shop to catch fire in Arorangi Photo: RNZ Pacific / Flo Syme Buchanan
