Caught on Camera: Key Peninsula Fire Department equipment stolen

KEY CENTER, Wash. — A fire department in Pierce County is now missing tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of gear after it was stolen in the middle of the night last week.

And whoever did it may be connected to another crime that same night, just a few miles away.

More than $30,000 worth of fire gear and equipment was stolen from the Key Peninsula Fire Department last Thursday.

Security video shows a silver truck with two people inside, pulling up behind the fire station in Key Center just after midnight.

Thieves broke into fire utility vehicles and a water rescue vehicle.

Assistant Chief Chris Beswick told KIRO 7 they stole fire gear, including uniforms, five high-end radios valued up to $8,000 apiece, and four drysuits used for water rescues.

Beswick says the thefts come at a steep cost – for the small department and the community.

“Honestly, at least in the meantime, we probably cannot respond to a water rescue until that stuff is replaced,” said Beswick.

That same morning, about two and a half hours later, a similar truck pulled up outside a liquor store in the nearby Purdy area.

Owner Laura Scheel says two men busted out her window and used a cable to drag out her ATM – which was later found several miles away in a ditch, with $1,800 gone.

“There’s a serial number that matches, how it was identified. They got in and got the money,” said Scheel.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is investigating whether the ATM theft is linked to the thefts at the fire station.

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