Rock knock for CFA

Pakenham CFA volunteers Emil Tuller and Michael Cornelius standing in front of the smashed window.Pakenham CFA volunteers Emil Tuller and Michael Cornelius standing in front of the smashed window.

By Melissa Meehan
PAKENHAM CFA’s John Street fire station came under attack from vandals this week, leaving one of its tankers unavailable.
CFA acting Southern Metro community safety manager Andrew Smith said crews arrived to the station at 8am on Monday morning to find their front window smashed by a large rock.
“We’re pretty disappointed that someone would take out such an act of vandalism on the fire station,” Mr Smith said.
“We believe someone has thrown a rock at the window between 5pm Sunday and 8am Monday and we’re hoping that members of the public can report anything they saw to the police.”
Mr Smith said the smashed window meant that fire crews couldn’t open the roller door for fear of glass breaking and flying out, which meant the station was left without access to one of its tankers.
He said the recent rock attack was just one of a growing number of vandal attacks in the area in the past few weeks.
“Since the new shopping centre has opened we’ve noticed a lot more graffiti and other vandalism in the area,” Mr Smith said.
“They clean it up and it appears again – it’s just very sad to see.”
He said the CFA was reviewing video footage and hoped someone would come forward with information.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.