PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - A sudden increase in vandalism of fire hydrants in Bitou has led the municipality to warn of the devastating implications this can have, especially after several fires over the past few months left hundreds of residents destitute.

Andile Sakati, head of public safety and the current acting director of Community Services, said the Bitou Public Safety Unit has reported a sudden rise in the damage to fire hydrants within the greater Plettenberg Bay area.

"Fire hydrants are connection points where firefighters can plug into the water connection during fire emergencies. This eliminates the need for fire trucks to have to return to the base to fill the trucks with water during fire situations. 

"These hydrants are normally placed partially underground in strategic positions within communities," Sakati explained.

He said that once these hydrants are damaged, the trucks might have to drive up and down between the fire area and the base to fill up with water. 

"This is time-consuming, costly, and may lead to a fire that could have been managed easily, escalating into a disaster. Members of the community might not understand when the water tankers have to drive in and out of the fire scenes while the fire is raging, which may lead to conflict."

He said this exact scenario played out during the recent fire in Bossiesgif when fire trucks had to travel between the fire scene and the base in town to fill up because the fire hydrants close to the fire had been damaged. "The result was that it took longer to deal with the fire than it would have if the hydrants were not damaged in the area."

Sakati said Bitou Fire Services suffered a lot of abuse from the community who could not understand why trucks had to constantly leave the scene of the fire.

He appealed to the public to stop vandalising these fire hydrants as well as other municipal infrastructure.

"These irresponsible acts can have fatal consequences and may lead to serious disasters. We make a call to the public to be vigilant and report vandalism of fire hydrants and all municipal infrastructure."

Sakati said another costly result of damage to fire hydrants is the loss of water. "Once the valves are removed or damaged, large volumes of water are pumped out, which leads to huge water losses if it is not identified and reported early."

Numbers to call in such cases are Bitou Customer Care on 080 021 2979, 044 501 3174/5 or 044 533 5000 or the police on 10111.

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