RED DEER, Alta. (CP) -- Somebody broke into an equipment garage adjoining Red Deer's downtown fire station in the wee hours of Friday morning and stole one of the department's fire trucks.
The six firefighters on duty slept through the purloining of the massive vehicle. The theft was discovered by emergency dispatchers after the thief activated the microphone in the truck. The dispatcher called the station and the officer in charge said the vehicle wasn't in use.
Moments later, police got a call to report the fire truck had been found crashed.
RCMP Const. Carol McKinley said when officers arrived, there was no one at the crash site. But a half hour later, they got another call about a suspicious male with injuries at a downtown apartment complex.
Police arrived and arrested a 27-year-old man of no fixed address.
McKinley said he sustained minor injuries but refused medical treatment.
Jim Pendergast, deputy chief of operations for emergency services, said the firefighters on duty can't be blamed for sleeping through the incident, since a thick, concrete wall divides the garage from the operations centre.
''Any noise created by the incident would not have permeated the significant concrete wall,'' Pendergast said.
He couldn't estimate the amount of damage to the truck but said it was extensive.
''While the vehicle was significantly damaged the majority of the equipment is salvageable,'' Pendergast said.
To make up for the missing truck, the fire department has borrowed a brush truck from Red Deer County emergency services.
Pendergast said the truck is equipped to negotiate thick brush while carrying a crew and equipment, something that is vital at this time of year because of the strong threat of grass or brush fires. (Red Deer Advocate)
