A fire at a marae near Whangarei has prompted a fire investigator to appeal to the public for help.
The wharenui Te Uri o Hikihiki at Mokau Marae was extensively damaged on 8 November. Two children aged 3, and 6, are suspected of lighting the blaze.
A Fire Service investigator who examined the marae, Terry Baylis, says their grandmother has agreed for the children to take part in a fire awareness prevention programme with the service.
Mr Bayliss the scheme is very successful, but more can be done. He says there are a lot of tamariki starting fires who are not being picked up by the programme.
It is important that any education institution, pre-school, primary school or church that knows of children playing with fire to let the service know, he says.
