Firefighters from Burwell Fire Station were unable to respond to a house fire in Newmarket on Monday (28) as their fire engine was out of service following a break-in at the station.
Thieves broke into the station on Reach Road sometime on Sunday night (January 27).
The mindless thieves stole vital life-saving cutting gear used at road traffic collisions and other rescues, often in life-or-death situations.
With police scenes of crime officers at the station, the fire engine was not able to be called upon as the second fire engine to the scene of the house fire to support the Newmarket crew.
Chief Fire Officer Chris Strickland said:
“How anyone can steal life-saving equipment from an emergency service is just beyond me.
“Luckily everyone was out of the house safely at the incident in Newmarket and we were able to send a crew from Soham to support Newmarket who responded quickly.
“When responding to an incident, every second
“It is vitally important our crews are able to get to an emergency as quickly as possible.
“Had there been an incident more locally, the delay in responding could have been much more significant.”
Anyone with information should call police on 101 quoting 35/6860/19 or visit www.cambs.police.uk/report.
Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org.
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Chief Fire Officer Chris Strickland said:
“How anyone can steal life-saving equipment from an emergency service is just beyond me”. nt
From experience elsewhere the ‘itinerant stolen caravan dwelling mobile thieving b’stard do as they likies’ are only too aware of just how effective the ‘jaws of life’ and related equipment is when breaking into and stealing from premises and vehicles. The same ‘itinerant stolen caravan dwelling mobile thieving b’stard do as they likies’ who leave gas cylinders in stolen caravans they’ve finished with, having stolen a newer/better model, when they set fire to it to destroy evidence. I’ve witnessed HFRS recovering a cylinder from the middle of such a burnt out caravan, they really don’t give a… if they kill a firefighter. HFRS have had several rural single appliance retained stations targeted for this equipment, one set turned up in the back of a stolen transhit on false plates associated with the aforesaid ‘do as they likies’ stopped by an officer who was immediately accused of racism.