Firefighters were forced to flee the scene of a fire and await the backup of police after a pump operator was showered in broken glass from a thrown bottle amid a series of couch fires in Palmerston North.

The Saturday destruction was the worst night of disorderly behaviour since the riots of 2008 erupted on student-dominated streets in Palmerston North, senior fire officer Malcolm Prince said.

There were seven fires lit and six people arrested.

Despite a quick cleanup job yesterday morning, the air in Ada St remained thick with smoke from five separate couch fires on that street alone.

Mr Prince said there were more than 100 people on the streets at one of the fires "and they were all acting like it was a big joke".

At one part of the road a burning couch was extinguished only for another to be lit in the same spot hours later.

"It was the worst night I've had in terms of running back and forward.

"They were saving up material so that we would have to keep coming back. To say it is a minority ruining it for the majority is hard with this one, because it was not just one person, they were all guilty by association for not stopping them.

"It is a culture that's come from Dunedin and it's spreading."

The descriptions Mr Prince had to officially record became laced with frustration the further into the night he went.

They were:

7.15pm: An open fire in a yard in Lyndhurst St put out.

7.45pm: A couch fire in Ada St put out, with police attending.

9.52pm: A "big fire" in the middle of Joseph St - six people arrested.

10.55pm: A couch fire in Ada St - same spot as the previous couch fire.

11.30pm: A couch fire at 21 Ada St, with other materials added to it, put out.

12.15pm: A couch fire in Ada St. A bottle hit the fire truck and smashed, showering a pump operator in glass. Left and called for police backup before returning and dousing.

4.20am: A fire in a rubbish bin on corner of Marne and College streets.

Mr Prince said the only way he could think of stopping the fires happening again was to put closed-circuit television cameras in the street.

"You can't change the attitude of people like that. We turn up and they're all drunk and yelling and yahooing, and trying to get a photo of themselves with the fire appliance in the background.

"One guy who was drunk was hanging from a tree over the fire.

"They're just bloody crazy."

Manawatu fire service assistant area commander Rodger Calder said he would be meeting Palmerston North senior sergeants today to discuss how to calm tensions during the next two weeks as students finished exams.

"We thought we had it under control but all of a sudden it's got bad again.

"They're taking the law into their own hands and it's dangerous," Mr Calder said.

The Palmerston North City Council is holding a disposal event on Sunday for people to get rid of their unneeded beds or couches for free.