Officials with the fire department say the firefighter assigned to the unit was inside the hospital when the brush pumper was stolen.

Authorities say an individual drove the brush pumper across the service road and into ditch, where it became stuck.

The alleged suspect was arrested, and no injuries were reported.

However, the brush pumper did sustain damage to the front end and had to be towed.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, although Concord Fire Captain William Noke said preliminary indications are that it started in Engine 4, which was destroyed in the fire. He said replacing Engine 4 could cost about $600,000.

Concord had to call in mutual aid companies to put out the fire, the department posted on its official Twitter account. "2nd alarm struck at 1201 Main Street, our station two,'' the tweet said. "CFD and mutual aid companies working.''

"Lead time, even on the new axles can be up to five to six months, so it's not one of those quick turn around things," Polk County Director of Fleet Maintenance Chuck Cheatham said.

"It's kind of premature in their life span, so in order to preserve the life of the vehicle, we're going to retrofit a more conventional suspension in it," Deputy Chief of Operations Tony Crouse said.

Spares are being used in place of the trucks out of service, and will continue to be used until all 12 are fixed.

"We need the trucks. We can't afford for them all to go into service. We are stretched a little bit, we have a lot of our spares in service," Cheatham said.

"When we have these component failures on these trucks it kind of cripples us for having a good, safe amount of spares," Crouse said.

This week County Commissioners approved spending $300,000 to replace the front suspension for all 12 firetrucks.

"The trucks are ten years old. They're probably half to two-thirds of their life gone. Do we want to replace them? Then you're talking six to seven million dollars," Cheatham said.

They called in the fire to the main station and then got out the back, but they couldn't get to their gear to help put out the blaze.

“They were fortunate to listen to the smoke detectors and act on them. They got out of there quickly, and I might say, just in time,” he said.

Cotreau said the fire started in middle bay, where an engine truck was parked. Other trucks were damaged, but likely can be repaired.

Arrangements have been made to cover the area in the event of another fire.

Video: http://my.firefighternation.com/video/concord-ma-firefighters-escape-firehouse-fire