'It's lucky no one was killed': Vandals cut down live power poles - causing major electricity outages across Sydney - in a bid to steal copper wire
- Vandals used chainsaws to cut down two poles in Fiddleton, Sydney on Friday
- Ausgrid crews saw the poles while responding to 700 calls of fallen power lines
- New South Wales and Queensland were hit with severe winds and several fires
Vandals have cut down live power poles causing a major power outage across Sydney, all in a bid to steal copper wire.
Two power poles in Fiddleton, in the city's north, were chopped down with chainsaws on Friday night.
Emergency crews spotted the vandalism while responding to more than 700 calls of fallen trees and power lines across Sydney over the weekend.
In the midst of severely wild weather, two power poles in Fiddleton, in Sydney's north were chopped down with chainsaws on Friday night (pictured)
Ausgrid's Chief Operating Officer Trevor Armstrong slammed the vandals, describing their behaviour as the 'height of stupidity'.
'I can't state enough just how dangerous and irresponsible this behaviour is,' Mr Armstrong said in a statement on Monday.
Share this article
'It is the height of stupidity to cut down a power pole carrying live powerlines, we are incredibly lucky nobody was killed or seriously injured.'
One of the posts had been lodged in a tree while the other lay across the road with emergency crews installing replacement poles on Sunday.
Ausgrid emergency crews spotted the vandalised poles (pictured) while responding to more than 700 calls of fallen power lines and trees across Sydney
'It is incredibly disappointing we need to spend resources on fixing unnecessary and criminal damage like this, especially on a weekend when our emergency crews were already busy responding to wind damage,' he said.
Ausgrid crews are currently still in the process of restringing the new power lines.
The vandalism came in the wake of severe winds across New South Wales and Queensland.
Several bushfires have been blazing through both states with more than 50 fires reportedly burning around NSW on Monday.
