So, some who live in Buchanan Dam are stepping up.

"If my house catches on fire, I want the fire department to show up,” said Lionel Roach, who lives in Llano County.

He donated a $100 Monday to the Buchanan Dam Volunteer Fire Dept.

The 20-year local resident found out the department had several items stolen and damaged early Friday morning.

Tommy Phillips is a volunteer firefighter who was one of the first to find out about the crime around 8 a.m Friday.

"They literally took everything: coats, bags, jackets,” said Phillips.

He said the criminals also got away with a brand new dash camera they were testing.

"They disconnected the camera and took the camera,” Phillips said.

Fire chief Mark Hutson said their air compressor system was damaged beyond repair.

This means firefighters' air packs can't be refilled at the station.

Both the chief and Phillips do not know who is responsible or why they would break in like this.

The air packs they've been using are more than a decade old. Officials with the department say these new ones are similar to the old packs so the transition should be easy. However, technology helps them communicate better with each other during emergencies.

"When we put the pack on their rated to a certain time that we can use them," said Captain Mark Johnson, Pullman Fire Dept. "The previous ones were rated for 30 minutes these will be 45 minutes. We can Bluetooth our breathing masks to our new radios which improves our communication dramatically."

The department got these new air packs from FEMA through the assistance of a $420,000 firefighters grant.
Crews will start training with the new SCBA's in the coming weeks and the department hopes to have them all in service by sometime in February.

The station, located on Wood Avenue near San Jose Boulevard, will respond to emergency dispatch calls for South Carlsbad, said Fire Chief Rick Lopez.

The station is the first and only in Carlsbad to have separate dorm rooms for firefighters to sleep in. Lopez said the other stations have one large room with beds.

"The guys deserve it. I'm proud to give it to them," Lopez said.

Lopez said the department hired nine new firefighters to work at the new station, three for every shift. He said the station has been operating for a week and the firefighters have already received calls in the area.