Firefighters battled another major blaze at an abandoned Christchurch building on Thursday night, with the fire service suggesting the homeless are to blame.
Nearly 30 firefighters were called to the six-storey Hereford St building just after 3am on Friday.
The fire is regarded as suspicious.
"There [are] signs of people being living in there, which is causing us some concern here with the Christchurch Fire Service," says Stephen Butler, assistant area commander.
"Sooner or later unfortunately someone may not get out of these types of buildings. What's going on is not good."
There have been a number of fires in derelict Christchurch buildings recently.
"There's no building protection in place with these abandoned buildings, like smoke alarms," says Mr Butler.
"It's really quite concerning that someone can light a fire deliberately, whether it's to keep themselves warm or be a nuisance.
But homeless advocate Brenda Lowe-Johnson says homeless people getting the blame for lighting fires is "ridiculous".
"They set themselves up in an abandoned building and they know that that's a place or a home for them, so why would they do that?"
She says the homeless have told her there are fewer abandoned houses for them to shelter in.
"I don't think it's fair," she says. "You have to be careful about what sort of statements you make."
Homelessness has increasingly become a nationwide issue and Ms Lowe-Johnson says while the target of zero homeless is unlikely - as some don't want to go into houses - it's a good challenge.
"There's a lot of work to be done with the homeless."
Newshub.
