You guys at ECN are pretty reliable with advice.
But I have something that will make you all wonder what the Hell is going on over here.
The only reason why I am divulging this sort of info, is because I have a hunch, that someone is up to no good.
(Bear in mind, this will be a huge post!)
Right, let's cut to the chase!.
I am of the opinion that there is a guy here in Ashburton, that is trying to burn his house down for the insurance money, but I cannot be sure that this is what is going on.
This fellow, is the only person living in the house(which was inherited from his Father), the house itself was built in the 1900's and was fully re-wired in 1983, it has 8 bedrooms,2 lounges and massive hallways.
But, a few incidents in the last week have made me wonder( at the same place)
These are:

• Saturday 17th(1000Hrs)- Fire service responds to multiple 111 calls regarding smoke escaping from under roofing iron, a small fire was located in the roof void and extinguished.
  Apparently, this was put down to a localised Electrical Fault, the guy was told by the Officer in Charge of the Incident to get the wiring checked, no more was said.
  I was there to pull the Mains Fuse, by the PoCo regs.
• Sunday 18th(0400Hrs)
  Fire Brigade responds to a fire in one of the bedrooms, this time caused by a lamp that had "fallen over", brigade controls blaze to this room alone, extensive smoke damage to the ceiling and walls of this room.
  (As an aside to this,I was talking with the Officer in charge of the first appliance, and he said that the guy was up and dressed when they arrived, now considering that this guy sleeps at the other end of the house to where the fire occured and with the added effect of not having smoke detectors in the house, don't you find this strange?)
• Tuesday 20th 2330Hrs)Brigade responds to a fire in Living room, that originated (so I think) in the opposite side of the room to any possible heat source.
  Even though the guy says that the incident could have been caused by the Open Fire, there was no wood or ash in the fireplace.
  I was the Officer in charge at this incident and I had a good look around this place and I checked the switchboard, just out of curiousity(sp?).
  What I saw at the switchboard, scared me, and this is not easily done these days.
  The fuses were just a "front" and all of the Line and Load side wires were twisted together and put into the terminals on the fuse base.
  This incident wrecked the Kitchen, Dining area, adjoining Bedroom, the Rear Porch and almost brought the whole roof down on us.

I was talking to an insurance assessor a few days later(he contacted me regarding my FIRS 132 report of the incident), I told him what I knew.
What really annoys me is the fact that people like me are paying for all of this BS.
What are your thoughts on this?
What do you think of this guy's attempt to defraud the insurance companies?.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 05-24-2003).]

Three fires in four days certainly does sound rather suspicious, and more than one might expect by chance alone.

What about the bypassed fuses? Would the 1983 rewire have been done professionally, so no chance of it being an "honest mistake" due to DIY incompetence?

Something smells very fishy here......

Repeated emergency responses at the same address but in different rooms with seemingly different origins seem suspect at best. Would the fuse bypass qualify for termination of electric service because of it’s immediate and obvious danger? It seems likely intentionally done to cause damage. The matter is probably complicated some if he is the only resident.

IIRC, awhile back you mentioned another case of contacting officials with the wallet of an electrical prankster. Could you discuss the seeming pyromaniac with the same person or department? They may be able to give opinions about proceeding where likely illegal activity has occurred. Arson attempts are often given some priority in investigation. Another task may be to discuss your suspicions with other emergency responders that have been in the house and witnessed “the perp” (perpetrator) and ”the scene of the crime.”

Paul,
I checked up the records of Permits and the house was re-wired by Electricity Ashburton,
(the local Power Board, when they had Electricians(also my former employer)).
So any sort of tampering must have occured after the re-wire.
Bjarney,
I disconnected the house at the pole and removed the HV DDO fuses(house is fed by a 11kV/400V tranny) and these fuses will not be replaced until the house and it's wiring are back up to my standard of electrical safety.
They are sitting in my truck glovebox.
IIRC?.
I'll definitely be taking this further, although I will have to get the police in to have a look at it too, Firefighters and Officers are not allowed to institute cases where they feel arson has occured, this must be done through the Police, which is fair enough.
This house is set back a fair way off the road that runs past it and with the lack of houses around it, it means that we can't ask any neighbours if they heard or saw anything suspicious.
BTW, Bjarney, that young fella got his comeuppance, he has to sand and re-paint the white areas on our power poles for three weeks.
Apparently, he must have had a hua of a fright when the police turned up on his doorstep, with his wallet!.
Good enough for him too!

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 05-24-2003).]

IIRC? Oops. I hate it when people use abbreviations I don't recognize. Sorry.

"If I remember correctly..."

It's OK mate!!, just wondered what it meant.

Definitely sounds like "warm demolition" as we say in German. I'd only fear he might switch to kerosene lighting or candles after power was cut. Would be even more effective.

Not all that much the police can do really. They'd need to get him psychatrically assessed and then perhaps they could do something if he's a danger to himself and/or others.

If he's that determined, you don't suppose he'd be stupid enough to try and climb the pole to bridge them, do you?

Too late fella's,
The house is on the ground.
We extinguished and dampened down what was left of it at 0300 this morning.
The guy has been taken into custody, to explain a very large explosion that happened before the Fire Service was called.
Thanks very much for all of your help and guidance on this topic.
It is most appreciated!!.

Wow!!

Ahhh the things you can do with a keg of gunpowder....

Good thing nobody got hurt.

Keep us posted Trumpy!!

Trumpy,

Did you happen to have your new Camera with you?

Bill

Sven,
Sorry, but that's not quite true, we had a
Fire-fighter cut his neck open on a falling piece of roofing iron.
18 sutures worth, I personally hope that this guy gets ALL that is coming to him!!!.
Bill,
Sorry,
But in the heat of the moment(sorry, no pun intended), I clean forgot about the Dcam,I was after all going to a House Fire, we don't have the location(of the incident) on our pagers.
But, I will keep you fella's posted on what happens w/ respect to the court case!, I will be following it like a Hawk, even though the police have called me as a witness.
I have been giving them all of my paper copies of notes and Fire Reports.
I hope it goes well!.

Well,
It's off to Court for me and the Fire Chief on Wednesday.
To testify our version of what happened over the whole series of events.
We will both be cross-examined by the Defence Counsel and by the Counsel of the Prosecution.
I must say that I am not particularly looking forward to it, you know what Defence lawyers are like, and this one(so I'm told) is like a rabid dog!.
I will have to wear my Formal NZ Fire Service uniform+ medals, etc, and it is made of materials that make me itchy.
The accused will be present at this pre-trial, to hear the evidence against him.
And then His Honour(the Judge) will decide if there is a case to answer.
I can't comment any further really, but I would imagine that charges of Arson, Wilful Damage, Endangering the life of a Fire-fighter, will be mentioned in the case.
We'll see how it goes!.
Thanks for your attention to this, guys!.

Wow -- At least this has got to court in a relatively short period of time.

Good luck Mike, and keep us posted.

Trumpy,

Just check that the Justice in this case is indeed addressed as 'your honour' in New Zealand. American TV influence in South Africa led many people down the 'your honour' route whereas the correct title in that land, following British convension was 'Your Worship'. Silly I know but sometimes little things can strengthen your credibility in the case. Best of luck.

Hutch,
You are indeed correct!.
That could have been embarrassing(sp?).
It's little things like that make all the difference.
Thanks,mate!.

If the electricty at this jerk's house was cut off....what's to guess that he was playing around with the town-gas mains (if he's got that) or cooking with one of those portable gasoline stoves indoors?

Roofing tin???? Sounds like a real doozy to me....what kind of a house is this?

(I'm of the concrete slab and South-American style clay tile persuasion. Down there, roofing tin is a cheap-n-nasty way of covering your house. Of course here in New York a lot of rooves are made of wood with tar-paper over it)

Good thing the fireman didn't get his arteries sliced with that thing....

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 06-16-2003).]

I get the impression that tin roofs are quite common in New Zealand, especially on timber-built rural homes. Isn't that so Trumpy?

Paul,
The corrugated iron roof has been used over here for years.
The iron has a coating of Galvanising on it, to slow down the spread of rust, most of the time, it is left un-painted.
It is used on roofs, farm shed walls, grain silo's and it is starting to be used as the under-cieling covering in some of the trendy bars around here, too!.

His Worship has given his verdict.
He sentenced the accused to 5 years imprisonment and ordered that he makes reparation for ALL of the damage caused.
(This guy CAN afford it).
So, that's the end of that chapter, but, I would just like to say that one of our oldest houses around here has been torched in the name of Greed.
I hope the guy likes Prison food, he's earned it!.
Thanks to everyone that gave me a hand over this Topic, nice to see a good result from the Courts, for once.

Sounds good, although if NZ is anything like the UK then that 5 years will probably be more like 2-3 years with parole for "good behavior."

Paul,
Yeah, our system is just the same, it's based on the UK system!(Not willing to stir up any Colonial ill-feeling, here!).
But, Paul I must say, that I did not enjoy being cross-examined, by both the Defence and the Prosecution, twice by the former, as to my mental character and my fitness to be a Fire Officer.
4 Hours of this I took and I walked out of the chambers, feeling like a real loser!
Lawyers, eh?, can't live with 'em, it's illegal to kill 'em!.

Yeah, and not just the lawyers. I know of several people here who have tried to help investigations into a crime -- once. The way the authorities treated them, they said they ended up feeling as though they were the criminal.

Good point Paul!!.
If I wasn't a Fire-fighter, I don't personally think that I would have given the investigators(some how sounds like Alligator), the time of day, let alone given them the pics I had taken and the info I had given them to help w/ the whole investigation.
Pretty much, bud, I got used and also got taken to task for it, if there is ever a case like this again, which I hope there isn't, the Police can go and jump, for all I care!!.