Stolen Stevens County fire truck recovered in Lincoln County

A Stevens County Fire District 2 truck that was reported stolen in May was recovered this summer in Lincoln County.

Fire Chief Rick Anderson said a person spotted the 2008 Ford F-550 fire truck “in a patch of timber and grass” on their property and reported it at the end of July.

Anderson said the truck was “generally beat up” and required about $12,000 in repairs, including replacing the front bumper and aluminum boxes where fire hoses were stored on the truck.

The truck was reported stolen May 16 from the fire station on State Route 25 and Enterprise Road, according to a fire district news release at the time.

Anderson said he was driving by the station on his way to a meeting when he noticed the door of the fire station was open and the brush truck was gone. In addition, Anderson discovered three heavy-duty batteries were stolen from a fire engine at the station, and a thermal imaging device, generator, propane tank, air compressor and a host of other equipment and supplies were taken.

“They pretty much cleaned the fire station out,” Anderson said. “They did everything but sweep the floor.”

He said the district recovered much of the gear, but $20,000 of equipment is still missing. He said the thefts are under investigation and there are no suspects.

“The front seat was completely full,” he said of the recovered truck. “They had stacked all the stolen stuff in it.”

Anderson said it was clear the thief or thieves intended to return to the truck with stolen items but never did.

“We were down really hard on the fire station for a while ‘ till we got the fire truck (back),” he said.

Anderson said the truck was repaired and put back in service three weeks ago.

He said the Washington State Department of Natural Resources gave the fire district a truck in place of the stolen one. Anderson said the district will continue to use that truck and the newly repaired one.

The fire district serves the communities of Hunters, Cedonia, Fruitland and the west side of the Spokane Indian Reservation.