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Suspicious fires destroy buildings and machinery on Mt Ruapehu - Source: Courtesy Dave Mazey -
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Police say they are closing in on the person responsible for an arson attack at Mount Ruapehu that caused more than $10 million worth of damage in February.
The fires were deliberately lit on February 13 and destroyed the Knoll Ridge Chalet, which housed a cafe and shops, a workshop and a chairlift building.
The investigation has beem moving forward and police are confident of an arrest, Detective Chris Chapman of Taumarunui police said.
"This has and will definitely affect the whole of central plateau so I don't intend to let it rest until I get them."
The cost of the damage is still being calculated, but Chapman said it's believed to be in excess of $10 million.
He said a number of exhibits found at the scene are still being examined by ESR for fingerprints but so far those had not yielded any conclusive results.
"We're still hopeful with the stuff we have that is still to be analysed though."
Police had already identified the brand and make of the boot that left a print near the scene.
"We just need to find those boots and put them on somebody," Chapman said.
"We're at a phase where we look at individuals really - it's a process of either elimination or inclusion."
Meanwhile, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts said the clean-up following the fire is almost complete.
Whakapapa area manager Steve McGill said the debris has been cleared and a temporary building is being put up for this year's ski season start on June 27.
"It'll be at the lowest level of where the original chalet was," McGill said.
"It'll just be a shelter which will include a small kitchen for a bit of food."
Some toilets are to be put in place where the shop used to be, and Schaus Haus on Hut Flat will be reopened as a second shelter with an extra set of temporary toilets.
"There'll be days when it's really busy, there'll be a few queues around...but the snow's going to be there and the lifts are still working so, as far as that goes, nothing will change."
McGill said they were in the process of redesigning the buildings that were lost and construction on them would begin at the end of winter.
"We obviously didn't have time to do that before winter, but we will rebuild those buildings."
The ski field is also in discussions with police about security improvements to the area.
McGill said the aftermath of the fire has been very time consuming.
"We've been trying to plan for the upcoming winter and there's two or three of us nearly fulltime working on just this stuff at the moment so it's a real pain to put it mildly."
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