Christchurch police car fire started due to power failure

A fire that damaged two police cars beyond repair in New Brighton, Christchurch overnight was caused by an electrical failure in one of the vehicles.

Canterbury Police began investigating this morning after two police vehicles were found on fire overnight.

One was found on in the secure parking lot of the police station; another parked next to him was also damaged.

Canterbury Tube Commander Superintendent Lane Todd said it was “quite a large fire.”

“One of the vehicles was well lit, while a second vehicle parked next to it was also on fire,” he said.

The fire was initially treated as a suspect, but investigations conducted today by Fire and Emergency NZ investigators and police determined that the fire was caused by an electrical failure in one of the cars.

“This is believed to be an isolated incident, as the vehicle involved was an older vehicle in the fleet.

“The police would like to thank the community for their support during today’s investigation.”

A fire investigation specialist had worked with detectives to conduct an examination of the scene since dawn, Todd said.

“[Firefighters] he attended and put out the fire. This morning [at] At first light we had a fire investigation specialist with detectives doing an examination of the scene.

Early Sunday, Todd said police were very concerned about the incident.

“The vehicles were in a security yard. It is one of our 24-hour stations.

“We are concerned that something like this could happen. However, we are in the early days of the investigation and we must keep an open mind.”

He said police would take CCTV footage and speak to potential witnesses as part of the investigation.