February 20, 2009

The arson attacks on Ruapehu ski field last weekend appear to have been carried out by someone who was determined, organised and had extensive knowledge of the area, police said today.
The fires destroyed the Knoll Ridge Chalet, which housed a cafe and shops, a workshop with three $500,000 snow groomers inside and a chairlift building.
The inquiry team had collected a wealth of evidence from the scene, Detective Scott Ivimey said.
For operational reasons, details of that evidence were not being disclosed at this stage.
However, some of the items were suitable for forensic testing, which might help in identifying the offender or offenders.
Once all the evidence was collated, the police profiling unit would be called in to help build a picture of the person or people responsible.
'What continues to become clear is the extent to which they appear to have had extensive knowledge of the area and the buildings,' Mr Ivimey said.
'They were determined and organised in the way they went about starting the fires.'
Police also believed there would be people who knew who started the fires, which began about midnight between Friday and Saturday.
Mr Ivimey said whoever was responsible would have had to have got off the mountain afterwards.
'It is also a well known fact arsonists gain satisfaction from watching their work so they would have been in the area for some time after the fires were started,' he said.
'Even if they haven't chosen to tell anyone about what they have done, their demeanour is likely to have been different from normal, and they would probably have been covered in dirt and smelling of fire smoke for some time after the event.'
Police had had a lot of co-operation from the public and a good response to appeals for those who were on the mountain last Friday to make contact, Mr Ivimey said.
'The community and even tourists are outraged by what has happened and there is a real determination to assist us in any way they can to track down those responsible,' he said.
'I am confident that support will pay dividends and we will hold someone to account.'
Police continued to ask that anyone with information that might help the inquiry to contact them.