Thieves Steal Fire Truck Used to Fight Forest Fires

The Chevrolet flatbed truck, equipped with a 500-gallon water tank, firehose reel, Honda pump and foam unit, is worth an estimated $20,000.

Salem-News.com

(SPRINGFIELD) - Because their workplace is outdoors, forest operators are accustomed to theft and vandalism. But Rod Surcamp never expected thieves to go so far as to steal his ability to fight fire.

"For whatever reason – joyriding, stripping the material - someone decided to come in and take our truck," the owner of Springfield-based Surco Log, Inc., said.

Sometime last Saturday evening, Surcamp's fire engine was stolen from Weyerhaeuser Corporation forestland southwest of Lorane in Lane County, where his company was processing logs under contract.

"We were meeting our [fire safety] requirements to have our engine available," he said.

But opportunistic thieves likely on the site to collect residual wood from the harvest operation decided the pumper truck was too good to pass up.

Fortunately, Surcamp has a second fire engine, or his operation would be on hold due to state regulations that require fire equipment onsite to put out any fire starts resulting from forest operations.

While the outright loss of a fire engine is unusual, he said theft of smaller items and vandalism at forest work sites is all too common.

"Earlier in the year someone came in behind a locked gate and stole the radiator out of our fire engine – chopped it out with one of our fire axes," he said.

Theft of fuel from forest operations is so commonplace, he must hide his gas cans at the site. Forest thieves prefer the convenience of simply taking the cans, but they readily siphon the fuel tanks of trucks and heavy equipment as well.

As for tools, their high value and portability make them a must-have item for larcenous forest visitors.

On account of their sheer size, bulldozers and other heavy equipment are less likely to disappear from a work site, but they don't go untouched.

"CD players installed in the cab get stolen routinely," he said.

He suspects much of the theft that occurs at his and other forest operators' work areas is unplanned and simply the result of temptation at the sight of so much expensive equipment.

"It's kind of like a rat attracted to a shiny nickel," Surcamp said.

Anyone with information on the theft of the Surco Log, Inc. fire engine is encouraged to contact the Oregon State Police dispatch center, (541) 726-2525.