Cocoa police are on the lookout for what may possibly be a stolen vehicle, but not just your typical garage warmer. This one is an older model 1956 Ford fire engine known by the moniker "Big Job" painted a traditional red, decked with side ladders and an old-time push button siren.
“We can’t find it, it’s just gone,” said Charles Fischer II, a Cocoa realtor who purchased the truck in 2005 for $6,200. The truck was uninsured.
“I bought it for use in parades as a marketing piece and had it stored it at a property on Lemon Street, about a block from City Hall,” Fischer said of the truck marked with a state-issued antique tag.
But sometime last week, as Brevard County struggled through post-Hurricane Matthew cleanup efforts, someone made off with the decommissioned firetruck. Days before, a neighbor living near a property owned by Fischer in the 100 block of Lemon Street was attempting to clean away debris from a fallen tree.
The truck, which was not damaged in the storm, was pushed across the street while the cleanup took place.
Fischer contacted police and called up several area tow truck companies to see if it was mistakenly picked up.
Police were also trying to determine just who would take an old fire engine.