General News
20 May, 2021
Thieves hit The Sisters CFA again
THEIVES have targeted The Sisters Country Fire Authority (CFA) Brigade for the second time in two months, with a range of items stolen from The Sisters-Noorat Road complex last week.
THEIVES have targeted The Sisters Country Fire Authority (CFA) Brigade for the second time in two months, with a range of items stolen from The Sisters-Noorat Road complex last week.
Detective Senior Constable Richard Hughes of the Warrnambool Crime Investigation Unit said The Sisters Fire Brigade had been burglarised last week between 6pm Wednesday and 8am Thursday.
“The point of entry was the door which is located on the west side of the shed,” he said.
“The door had been jemmied open, and the offenders opened two fire trucks and rifled through internal and external compartments.
“Someone has broken in to the building as well as two vehicles, so we’re looking at one burglary and two thefts from motor vehicles.
“Two cupboards in the shed were also opened.”
Detective Senior Constable Hughes said a number of items vital to CFA volunteers fulfilling their life-saving duties were stolen during the burglary, including:
One 9kg gas cylinder;
Two helmet torches and guide clips;
One 9kg ABE brand fire extinguisher;
One defibrillator hard plastic case;
One 12-24 volt vehicle battery charger;
One drag chain;
One first aid kit; and
A pair of 450mm bolt cutters.
District 5 CFA commander Rob Howell said the burglaries were a disappointing act.
“Obviously this is an emergency service, and when we open the door we expect everything is going to be there and function as it was when we left it.
“Someone has damaged the building, damaged the point of entry and taken items from within that building which makes it difficult for people to go and serve the community and protect it if the equipment isn’t there.”
Mr Howell said the theft of items was a drain on CFA resources.
“From our perspective we’ll have to go and spend further money trying to make the building more secure to stop those things from happening again,” he said.
“That’s money that could be used for something else like training firefighters or purchasing additional equipment, which might actually be useful to help protect the community.
“For it to happen twice in such a short period of time is equally disappointing.”
He said appropriate measures would now be taken to stop this sort of thing happening again.
“We would like to hear from anyone who has any information that will lead to those responsible. We need to stop it from happening again,” Mr Howell said.
“This is not appropriate behaviour as this equipment is there to help the community.”
Detective Senior Constable Hughes said The Sisters CFA Brigade had also been burglarised in early March, when similar items were stolen.
The most recent spate of thefts from the building was not the first time offending has occurred, An offender was processed by police and imprisoned for a similar offence in 2017.
Detective Senior Constable Hughes said police were calling for any potential witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact the Warrnambool CIU on 5560 1333 or CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000,” he said.
