21 Sep 2018

Auckland cars set on fire in suspected arson

12:11 pm on 21 September 2018

Police are forensically investigating the burnt-out wrecks of two cars suspected to have been set on fire by an arsonist in the Auckland suburb of Sandringham overnight.

Dramatic footage supplied to RNZ shows one of the cars fully alight on the suburban street.

It took fire fighters almost an hour to fully extinguish it.

Fire Service spokesperson Scott Osmond said the fires were lit just a few hundred metres apart early this morning.

The blazes were being treated as suspicious and he hoped the forensic work would show whether or not an arsonist was to blame.

While the Fire Service regularly attended car fires, it was unusual to have two so close together in one night, Mr Osmond said.

Police are also investigating vandalism to more than 20 vehicles on the North Shore this week.

Police said the tyres were damaged on Tiri Tiri Rd and Woodhams Street in Birkdale. They urged anyone else who had had their car vandalised to come forward.