Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews have been called to fires at four churches in Masterton this morning.
It is now thought up to seven churches were targeted, although fire took hold at four sites.
The four fires were believed to have started between 4.25am and 4.35am and the “damage to the churches ranged from moderate to significant”, a Fire and Emergency spokesperson said.
“The fires are being treated as suspicious and have been referred to police.”
The churches damaged were: Anglican Church Of The Epiphany, St Patrick’s Catholic Church Masterton, Masterton Baptist Church, and Equippers Church Masterton.
Crews responded from across the Wairarapa region and from as far away as Avalon Station in Lower Hutt.
Police said officers have carried out checks at other churches in the town on Saturday morning — and located evidence to suggest three further churches were targeted but did not catch alight.
“It does look as if they’ve used petrol bombs [for at least some of the churches],” a police spokesperson said.
“The great thing about this is no one’s been injured.”
Senior station officer Ian Wright said firefighters arrived at the first church fire within three minutes.
He said it was a challenge to deal with several fires at once.
“It’s not something we encounter very often, thankfully, but firefighters do what fighter fighters do. We pivot and we arrange and we organise and respond.”
Wright said there was significant damage to two or three churches, but the rest of the damage was minor. There was no damage to neighbouring properties.
A police spokesperson earlier told 1News officers will be “conducting reassurance patrols, including in nearby towns Featherston and Carterton”.
The blazes were believed to have started between 4.25am and 4.35am. (Source: 1News)
Police are asking for anyone with dashcam or CCTV footage to contact Crime Stoppers.