Thieves have stolen a base-station radio transceiver from a Tasmanian volunteer fire station, then tried to break into another.
The Weymouth fire station was targeted about 10pm on Friday and then the thieves tried to break into the neighbouring Pipers River station but failed.
Police Inspector Adam Mollineaux of the North East Division said that in a time of high fire danger the theft and attempted break-in were unbelievable.
Firefighters work to contain the Pelham Road Fire in southern Tasmania. Source: TASMANIA FIRE SERVICE
"We have bushfires burning across the country, including here in Tasmania.
"Emergency services and local volunteer brigades such as Weymouth and Pipers River are preparing for another very high fire danger day tomorrow and something like this happens - it beggars belief," he said.
Victorian fires blanket the Apple Isle
Bushfire smoke from raging blazes in Victoria has blanketed Tasmania, forcing authorities to issue a public health alert.
The air quality is at its worst in the island state's north and central regions, but the smoke has also turned skies above Hobart hazy.
Tasmania's Director of Public Health, Mark Veitch, has urged people with chronic conditions, such as asthma, to stay indoors where possible.
Hot and windy weather has pushed the fire danger to very high on the east coast and northeast on Saturday.
Authorities are particularly concerned about a series of fires in the northeast, near the township of Fingal, which earlier this week destroyed a home.
Police say those blazes were deliberately lit.
Four 'watch and act' alerts were in place for the Fingal fires at lunchtime on Saturday.
Temperatures are tipped to reach the low 30s on Saturday in the state's east and south.
A cooler change is expected to bring relief to Tasmania in the afternoon, and push mainland bushfire smoke away from the island.
