These photos were taken in August 2019 -- three months before the New South Wales bushfires

This article is more than one year old.
Published on November 19, 2019 at 03:10
2 min read
By AFP Australia

Photos of severed fire hoses have been shared repeatedly in multiple Facebook and Twitter posts which claim that a vandal cut them as deadly bushfires burned eastern Australia in November 2019. The claim is misleading; the photos have circulated online since August, about three months before the bushfires broke out.

The photos were published in this tweet on November 13, 2019, alongside the following caption: “This is so wrong, some wanker in my area cut the heads off all the fire hoses during #NSWfires catastrophic fire season, wtf is wrong with people.. #nswrfs thank you for your service! I hope they catch the idiot!”

The photos were shared in the same week that more than 100 bushfires scorched the states of New South Wales and Queensland on Australia’s east coast during an unusually early fire season. The fires have killed at least four people and destroyed hundreds of homes, AFP reported here on November 14.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading tweet:

The photos were also published here, here and here on Twitter, and here and here on Facebook alongside a similar claim.

They were published alongside other images in this Facebook post about severed fire hoses found in New South Wales in November.

The photos were shared in a misleading context; they show damaged hoses found at a fire station in Grose Vale, northwest of Sydney, in August -- about three months before damaging bushfires erupted on the east coast of Australia in November 2019.

A reverse image search on Google found the same photos published here on August 11 to the Facebook page of Grose Vale Rural Fire Brigade, a “volunteer organisation located in Bowen Mountain and Grose Vale NSW”, according to its profile.

The post's caption states: “We're really disappointed to hear that firefighting hoses were vandalised at Grose Vale Rural Fire Brigade. Our volunteers need this crucial equipment to help protect the community.”

The firefighters reposted the photos in this update issued on November 13, which states: “Due to recent fire activity, this post from August 2019 has attracted a great deal of attention. Please be advised that this is an old post and the hoses have been repaired.”

In response to a query about the photos in the misleading post, New South Wales Police on November 13 emailed a copy of a statement to AFP, which was originally issued in August about the Grose Vale incident.

The statement reads: “Police are investigating following the damage of several hoses at the Grose Vale Rural Fire Brigade. It appears between 4pm 10/08/19 and 6.30am 11/08/19 five hoses were damaged while hanging out to dry.

“The nozzle of each hose was cut. The incident was reported to Hawkesbury Police for investigation.”

The Hawkesbury Gazette, a local newspaper, also published a report about the vandalism here on August 15.

Below is a screenshot of the article:

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