Re-O Week was extra chaotic this year, with couch burning and other property destruction reported in the student area. Students witnessed a notable amount of damage happening throughout the week as parties were held on streets such as Hyde, Leith, Frederick, Queen, and Castle.
Couch burning is a University of Otago legacy, and Re-O has seen multiple accounts of fires throughout the week. One student, Michael, said he saw a fire late Saturday night on Frederick Street. “We were on Leith, went for a walk, rocked up and there was a couch engulfed in flames.” He said that he had no idea who started it, as by the time he witnessed the fire, it was already “pretty huge”. He said that a few people gathered on the street to watch it burn out, but left before Campus Watch or any firefighters showed up.
Another student, Grace, said she was walking home from town on the weekend and spotted a different couch on fire near Queen Street. “I was pretty drunk so I can’t remember it that well, but all I know is that a few of us just stood there [watching the couch burn],” she recalled. “By the time I saw it, there wasn’t much left of it,” she said. Grace added that she doesn’t really understand why people have gone “crazy burning couches that week,” but Re-O was “pretty unpredictable”.
Small couch fires were also witnessed by party-goers on Leith Street. One student, Amy, said that her and her friends saw “a small couch fire” during the week, however reckoned it was “put out really quick” and that the fire “wasn’t that big”. She said that whoever lit the couch “seemed like they didn’t want to get in trouble so they stopped the fire before many people noticed”.
Amy also told Critic that on Wednesday night she saw a beat-up car being pushed down Castle Street, and reckoned “the breathas who were pushing the car through the glass seemed to have damaged it really badly … it looked fucked, like people had smashed the windows out and dented the entire thing.” She said “kids these days must have plenty of money to do that shit. I can’t believe it.”
“This is unfortunately not unusual for busy periods such as Re-O week, and it is particularly disappointing that where students are the culprits they are inflicting damage on their own community,” said the Proctor, Dave Scott.
Amy also disclosed that at parties she attended in the student area, people were smashing holes in their flat walls and through the windows “for a laugh”, and their property was getting absolutely hammered during the week. “Some people are ruthless, they probably woke up to some real shit in the morning,” she said.
A police spokesperson said that they were called to a total of four couch fires during the weekend of Re-O Week. Stuff also reported that Campus Watch attended a fire on Hyde Street at the very beginning of Re-O week, and had to extinguish it as firefighters were busy. The Proctor was only aware of two couch fires during Re-O.
“Police take these incidents extremely seriously and they will not be tolerated,” said the police spokesperson. “If not extinguished quickly a couch fire can cause serious harm.”
Critic asked two students, Suzie and Theo, if they had an opinion about the popularity of fires during Re-O. They both agreed that although most of the fires are harmless and it’s what Otago Uni is known for, “it kinda sucks that Campus Watch and firefighters are kept busy with couch fires because students want to have a laugh.”
The Proctor said that “overall behaviour was really pleasing. It is clear to see returning students were enjoying being back together after the unsettled first semester, and for the vast majority festivities were positive.”