Monday’s damage to the Stevens County Fire District #2’s fleet has been—and will continue to be—a problem and cause delays, officials say.
“I was on my way to [a] meeting and saw the rollup door was open as I drove by,” said Rick Anderson – Fire Chief, as reported by FA. “Upon closer inspection, Brush 272, a white 2008 F550 4×4 Type 6 fire truck was missing from the station. In addition, a second fire truck was extensively damaged due to the batteries being cut out of their holder and significant amount of equipment was stolen for it.”
The department has put out notice that the loss of its two vehicles will delay responses.
Officials say the department usually responds in about 15 minutes. However, with it relying on neighboring stations for apparatus, there’s another 15-20 minutes tacked onto that, reports krem.com. Hunters is the next available truck, officials say.
With wildfire season fast approaching, department officials are scrambling to find the stolen apparatus.