Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteers have been left dismayed by a weekend act of senseless vandalism that has left their firefighting hoses severely damaged.
Members of the Grose Vale Rural Fire Brigade hung five lengths of hose up to dry at the Cabbage Tree Road station on Saturday afternoon, August 10, and arrived early on Sunday to discover they had been cut up.
"Someone had cut the couplings off the hoses," NSW RFS Hawkesbury district manager, Superintendent Karen Hodges, told the Gazette.
"They have hoses left, but from our perspective it's disappointing that a community-based organisation has been subject to such vandalism by someone in our community.
"[The volunteers] are gutted. They are really disappointed that someone in their own community has seen the need to do this, and for what purpose?"
The hoses can be fixed, however it was a time consuming process for volunteers who already gave freely of their time to help the community, Supt Hodges said.
"People don't seem to have respect for what the volunteers do," she explained.
"We can repair them [the hoses] but it will be just more of the volunteers' time. The volunteers put in many hours - they'd been undertaking hazard reduction at Bowen Mountain last week - and this is another job for them that is just unnecessary.
"It's a completely pointless act."
Volunteers posted on the brigade's Facebook page that vandalism had also occurred in Avoca Road, Grose Wold, on Saturday night, and police have been informed.
Supt Hodges urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Hawkesbury police.
"If people have any information at all, report it to the police," she said.
Hawkesbury police can be contacted on 4587-4099. Information can also be reported to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au
Information is treated in strict confidence.
Further hazard reduction at Bowen Mountain was postponed on Monday due to unfavourable weather conditions.
The hazard reduction was rescheduled to Tuesday.