Police turn up the heat on Elvis the fake fireman

A fake fireman cruising the roads of Wairarapa in a car that looks like an emergency service vehicle is an impostor who needs to be reined in, say police and firefighters.

The fire service says the man is harming its reputation by forcing people off the road in what looks like a fire vehicle. Police have growing concerns about his driving, claiming he hogs the road.

They know who he is but will not name him. Rather, police are calling for witnesses who may have been forced off the road or who have seen the man behaving as though he is in an official emergency vehicle.

"We want to hear about any erratic driving or behaviour similar to this because we think he has been doing it a fair bit," Senior Sergeant Warwick Burr said.

Late yesterday, The Dominion Post found the driver, 47-year-old beneficiary Elvis Piggott, who claims he made a blunder and has now altered the car.

Mr Piggott, who says he is a former fireman, has been cruising around in a 1980s white sedan, emblazoned with the words "Fire Safety Marshall". It has rooftop flashing lights similar to those on police and fire vehicles, and has an air horn.

Mr Burr said the most serious complaint was on August 19, about 3.45pm, when a motorist heard a loud noise "like an air horn" on a fire truck and looked in her mirror to see flashing lights. She pulled aside and the vehicle drove past, down the centre line, sandwiched between both lanes of flowing traffic.

Mr Piggott maintains each incident was an accident. He had not meant to turn on the flashing lights and he sounded the horn only when he passed someone he knew.

"I have taken the lights off the car and all the signage off.

"I won't tell you where it all came from, but it has gone now and I have also resigned from a few roles I had doing fire safety marshalling. I didn't mean to fool anyone."

- © Fairfax NZ News