Spate of early morning car fires in Gunnedah believed to be deliberate acts, leaves firefighters frustrated

Gunnedah Fire and Rescue crews responded to a car fire in Hopedale Avenue, Gunnedah, at 2:50am Thursday morning.

Deputy captain Andrew Johns said on arrival, firefighters found a car parked very close to a house, and well alight.

"Due to COVID constraints we are only allowed to take four on the truck at the moment. If we need more guys they come in their own cars," he said.

"But we got there last night in time and knocked the fire over pretty quickly, so we didn't need that to happen."

He said the car was parked dangerously close to the house, and during efforts to protect it from exposure the water broke the windows upon impact.

"The combination of the cold water and the pressure of the water broke the glass, so it was only centimetres away from the house, which was quite concerning because it could have quite easily turned into a house fire," he said.

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Crews controlled the situation within 15 minutes. Gunnedah police were also on the scene and investigations continue.

The incident follows a deliberately lit fire in an abandoned car on Conadilly Street on August 21, and another on Chandos Street on August 16.

Deputy captain Johns said while firefighters love helping their community, deliberate acts are incredibly frustrating.

"All of our firies have nine to five jobs, or are shift workers, so the last thing we need is to go to a deliberately lit fire at any time of the day, but at 3am in the morning just makes it worse," he said.

"But at the end of the day we're there to help the community and we will always do that. But generally we respond to accidents, not deliberate acts."

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