It was arson: police

BARRY HARCOURT/The Southland Times

AN 'ERUPTION' OF FIRE: Invercargill firefighters work to control a house fire at the corner of Tay and Jackson streets about 2am yesterday.

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A 35-year-old man will appear in the Invercargill District Court today charged with the arson of a vacant house in the city in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Craig Lyall Peterson, made a brief appearance in the court before justice of the peace Malcolm Johnson yesterday afternoon charged with the arson and burglary of the house, at the intersection of Tay and Jackson streets.

Duty solicitor Jono Ross told Mr Johnson the court needed to look at Peterson's ability to answer the charge and said that needed to be considered under Section 38 of the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003.

That was something only a district court judge had the power to do, Mr Ross said. He asked Peterson be remanded until today.

Mr Johnson agreed.

Sergeant Ian Martin, of Invercargill police, said police were called by the Invercargill Fire Service about 1.30am after a member of the public called 111.

A police sergeant at the scene noticed a conspicuous man sitting on the footpath watching the blaze and arrested him shortly afterwards, charging him with arson, Mr Martin said.

A police guard was put in place at the house until about 11am, when a fire safety officer arrived to complete an examination of the scene, he said.

The police investigation was ongoing and anyone who witnessed any activity before or after the fire was asked to contact Invercargill police, he said.

The rental property was unoccupied and had sold in the past week.

The woman who called 111 said she was returning home with friends after celebrating St Patrick's Day when they noticed a "flickering" along the Jackson St side of the house.

"When we got there, there were flames licking up the inside of the building," she said.

She and her friends checked the house for any sign of anyone inside, but it quickly erupted into a "fireball", the woman said.

Fire Service Southland area manager Brendan Nally said the house was fully involved on firefighters' arrival and was "venting", with flames erupting from windows from "end to end".

Twelve firefighters on three appliances took about 30 minutes to bring the fire under control and remained at the scene for about four hours, he said.

Firefighters were also called back about 7am after a minor flare-up.

The house was "totalled" in the blaze, he said.

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