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Sep 2, 2008 6:14 pm US/Central
DFD Concerned After Rash Of Fire Station Thefts
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
In the last two weeks four Dallas fire stations have been burglarized. In all, close to $9,000 worth of equipment has been taken, but more worrisome is the possible threat to public safety.
Officials with Dallas Fire Rescue say the string of burglaries is causing firefighters to change the way they operate.
As a rule, fire stations have had an open-door policy, with people frequently coming in to ask general questions or more seriously, to safely drop off unwanted babies. Now if you want a firefighter's attention, you will have to knock on a locked door.
Rescuers at Dallas Fire Station #27, on Douglas and Northwest Highway, made a disturbing discovery Tuesday morning.
Stolen, right out of a fire truck, a thief or thieves took a flashlight, helmet, gear bag, and most concerning of all – an emergency radio. The radios are used by firefighters when fighting a fire.
"Our radios are our lifelines," explained Sherri Lopez with Dallas Fire Rescue. "In the wrong hands that can be devastating."
Misuse of a radio is not only worrisome during a fire, if misused a radio could divert emergency crews away from helping someone in need.
"Someone could say something that wasn't true and it would cause us to pull resources from other places that are really needed," Lopez explained. "Because we're going to treat everything as real, until we prove otherwise."
Six radios have been stolen during the string of robberies at Dallas fire stations from Greenville Avenue to Douglas Avenue.
Officials with Dallas Fire Rescue say the radios can't be disabled, but they expect their batteries to run out soon.
So far no one has been arrested for the thefts. Police say they don't know if the robberies are related.
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