Reward offered for conviction of arsonist

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 40, 27 March 1984, Page 1

Reward offered for conviction of arsonist

A suspicious series *of small fires over the last two months . culminated in a major blaze last Friday morning when the Raetihi home of Mr and Mrs McCann was extensively damaged by fire, water and smoke. Mrs Linda McCann has been out of her house for only a few minutes and was visiting a neighbour when Bihe heard the local fire siten. She returned home fearing the worst and found her Pitt Street house well ablaze and her volunteer fireman husband, Tom, helping to fight the fire. Since about the middle of January the McCann family have been subjected to a series of threatening phone calls and notes saying their house would be torched. Neither Tom nor Linda McCann have any idea why they have been receiving these threats but realised they were serious when, on several occasions they re-

turned home only just in time to prevent earlier fires. On one occasion an oven had been switched on to maximum and the door left open. On another, a pile of papers which had been placed on top of the hotplate elements had caught alight but the flames were doused before any damage was done. Police have investigated these earlier incidents without success. Last Friday a large team of police and Wanganui's chief fire investigation officer were in Raetihi asking questions and examining the damaged house. Raetihi's mayor, Carrick Workman, has set up a pledge at the borough's Administrative Centre so that a substantial reward can be offered for the arrest and conviction of those responsible. "Every citizen of Raetihi should be concerned and apprehensive about this

situation — it may be their turn next. By alerting them to what has been happening it is hoped that with increased vigilance the arsonist will be caught," he said. "The pledge does not commit anyone to paying out any money at this stage but it does mean we can offer a substantial re\yard for any information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible." "Only then will we uplift the pledge but we do hope the whole community gets behind us and supports our efforts to catch the culprit before more fires are deliberately lit in people's homes." Another fire that might be related to this series was one earlier this year in which the 'front hedge belonging to Peter iones of the Raetihi Milk Company was torched in the middle of the rtight. Mr Tom McCann is the milk company's foreman.