Is this the end of the Dunedin couch fire?

Monday, 24 February 2025

In 2019 there were 42 couch fires in Dunedin’s student quarter.

Reported incidents have been trending down, with no reported couch fires during flatting week (Flo Week), or Orientation Week (O Week).

Police are reporting Otago student behaviour as excellent

Orientation Week was once likened to a week-long Guy Fawkes night for fire fighters, but no couch fires have been reported in Dunedin’s student quarter this year.

Senior constable John Woodhouse commended students over the last fortnight, in what appears to be a major shift in behaviour.

In previous years it was not uncommon for fire fighters to tackle dozens of couch fires each year, but the combination of CCTV, proactive messaging, and educational repercussions had caused a dramatic reduction.

Alongside no reported couch fires, there had been “hardly any serious incidents, and overall student behaviour has been excellent,” Woodhouse said.

Woodhouse had worked as the Campus Cop for more than a decade, and could not recall a Flo Week, an orientation week for flats, or the following O Week, to feature no couch fires.

“Once the new cohort of students come in, the culture slowly changes.”

In 2021, Stuff reported there were 18 couch fires in the student area, with 25 the previous year, and 42 in 2019.

In 2020, fire fighters battling a major blaze in South Dunedin dispatched off-duty firefighters to tackle a couch fire on Hyde St.

In 2015, Stuff reported an intoxicated man hitching a ride on a fire appliance, while in 2021 bottles were thrown at police officers attending a couch fire on Castle St.

In 2016, a couch was set alight, causing substantial damage to a flat on Castle St, an infamous party street.

The burning of couches led one senior fire fighter to liken the busy O Week period to a “week-long Guy Fawkes night”.

Concerning behaviour included people hurdling over burning couches.

“That just seems to be a thing of the past, hopefully,” Woodhouse said.

He noted that large parties, which attracted thousands o the area, cut their music off at “the predetermined times,” either 12am or 1am, if it was a Friday or Saturday.

Those large crowds dispersed without incident.

“We’d just like to say the behaviour has been getting better and better every year.”

Agencies had worked alongside students, particularly those planning on holding large parties, which led to improved outcomes.

“The number of students who approach police and just thank them for their presence is unbelievable.

“They really do appreciated police and Campus Watch being there, they feel safer.”

The number of people on the street during Flo Week appeared to be up, while Orientation was slightly down, and that was attributed to the Electric Avenue festival, which meant those students in Christchurch did not head south.

Previous issues of high school students attending parties was not as prevalent, with police taking some back to their homes last weekend.

Woodhouse said broken glass left on the street “was a small price to pay for creating a safe environment”.

Police, alongside other partners working in the area, tried to dissuade the purchase of alcohol in glass, “but students seem to be driven by price, which is understandable,” Woodhouse said.

“The structure of the modern beer bottle doesn’t seem to hold together as well.”

The Sophia Charter, a multiple agency response to North Dunedin aimed at keeping young people safe, was named after Sophia Crestani, who died in a stairway pile-up during a crowded party attended by hundreds of revellers on October 5, 2019.

The University of Otago declined to comment when approached.

FENZ community risk manager James Knapp said there had been a noticeable improvement in student behaviour, with only a few nuisance fires being recorded this year.

“It looks like we are off to a pretty good start.”

That compared to previous years when it reached “epidemic proportions”, and he praised the University of Otago for its work in that area.

Knapp said fires could cause physical damage to people, including toxic fumes, while embers could cause buildings or vegetation to go on fire.