By Brendan Rees
Firefighters at Devon Meadows fire brigade have been left puzzled after two total fire ban road signs were allegedly stolen by callous thieves last weekend.
The signs, which were placed at Finsbury Road and at the front of Cannons Creek fire station, were secured to posts and well-weighted down on the morning of Saturday, March 17.
But by the following morning the signs, which belong to the Devon Meadows fire brigade, were discovered missing.
Devon Meadows fire brigade captain Andrew Swain said members were bitterly disappointed.
“It’s very unfortunate. One of them was tied to another sign outside the Five-Ways shop and the one at Canons Creek was tied down as well,” he said.
“It’s not like they blown away even though the wind was fairly windy. They’ve been purposefully removed.”
Mr Swain said the signs may not have been worth much but it was an inconvenience for the brigade.
“It’s just signs we now have to spend community money to replace, he said, adding “It’s just a distraction that the volunteer brigade doesn’t really need.”
Mr Swain said in addition to attending local fires, crews from the brigade also assisted with a fire in Colac last Sunday, 18 March.
The last thing the brigade needed was to worry about replacing the road signs, he said.
“We’re busier enough with fires in the latter part of the season without having to worry police stations to do stolen reports on stolen signs.”
“Just means someone’s got to spend their own time going out source some more signs,” Mr Swain said.
