By SCOTT INGLIS
Thieves have stolen hundreds of dollars worth of cash and property from two Auckland fire stations in the past week while the firefighters were on callouts.
In one of the raids, the firefighters were less than 500m away attending a false alarm.
The thefts - at the Manukau and Mt Wellington stations - are the latest in a spate that has forced the Fire Service to review security.
Stations at Glen Eden, Parnell, Ponsonby, Henderson and Avondale have also been hit in the past. Burglars either stake out stations, striking just after the fire engines roll out, or are opportunists.
In some cases, they slip in before the automatic doors come down, or enter through doors or windows left open when firefighters have had to leave in a hurry.
Some even make a malicious 111 call from a nearby public phonebox beforehand, prompting the callout.
The latest theft was at the Manukau station on Wednesday night, when thieves rifled through firefighters' wallets. About $300 was taken, as well as confectionery and drinks from a kiosk, just after the station's two trucks responded to an 11.34 pm alarm in nearby Dalgety Drive.
The callout was a genuine false alarm, caused by a mechanical fault, but it tied up eight firefighters for up to 40 minutes.
It was the third burglary at Manukau this year, with the loss of hundreds of dollars.
District chief fire officer Larry Cocker refused to say how the burglars got into the station, which also houses ambulances, but confirmed he had ordered a security review.
"We're supposed to be the good guys.
"It annoys our troops," he said. "We're there to help and serve the public and when our stations are sometimes unattended they get burgled.
"It just seems to be a bit of a bad patch at the moment."
Last Saturday night, thieves struck at the Mt Wellington station while firefighters were at a road crash. The service does not know how the burglars got in.
Nearby houses were also hit that night, which makes fire chief Ray Warby suspect the raiders were opportunists.
The thieves were also probably disturbed because all they took was a cellphone.
"It is a problem ... You picture it: you're driving along at night and you're that way inclined, and the fire station is all lit up with the doors open ... "
Auckland District fire chief Brian Edwards said that during a Parnell station raid, the thieves loaded a staff member's car with items, including a television and video recorder.
On the North Shore, vandals have thrown beer bottles through the front doors of the Takapuna station three times in the past nine months.
At other times, firefighters have also caught potential thieves inside the station.
In Northland, some volunteer stations have been burgled and televisions, fuel and hand-held radios stolen. Chartwell station in Hamilton has also been burgled twice.
The service says the thefts are not part of a widespread national problem and no statistics are kept.
Thieves swoop in as firefighters race out
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