IRON RIVER – The Iron River Fire Department had one of its fire trucks stolen from the fire hall, during the early hours of April 10.
Thanks to a citizen reporting the location of the fire truck, it was recovered from the Goodridge area and is currently undergoing a mechanical inspection, according to Darren Sandbeck, CAO of the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority.
Sandbeck reports that it appears someone kicked in the door of the fire hall. And because of required response times, keys are left in the emergency vehicles, so the suspect was able to drive off with the vehicle.
Sandbeck said they do not know who was responsible for the theft, though the fire halls are equipped with security cameras.
“We have security monitoring currently on all of our stations. We also have security cameras, so we're reviewing that footage right now. We're also undergoing security risk assessment of all of our stations to ensure that our doors are solid, and our locking mechanisms are appropriate."
The situation will result in a review of security at all fire stations.
Sandbeck expressed his relief that the truck was recovered and appears to not have been damaged, though he feels the situation is still disheartening.
“It's pretty frustrating for our volunteers out in the Iron River community. They put a lot of effort in, and make a lot of commitment to protecting their community, so this is pretty disheartening and frustrating for them. I think there's a sense of relief that a truck has been recovered and it wasn't any worse off than it was. They're just kind of eager to get it back and to be able to use it to serve their community.”
