More than $1,500 worth of gear was stolen from a truck belonging to Montana firefighters who were battling wildfires in California.
The three firefighters from the Park County Rural Fire Department had stopped at a motel Monday in Idaho Falls, ID, on their way back to Livingston, KRTV-TV reports. That's when personal protection equipment, fire bags for shelters and other gear was taken from their vehicle.
"It doesn’t only hurt us, our department, but it hurts everybody else," firefighter Wyatt Adler told KRTV.TV. “It feels like your whole world gets taken away. Your equipment to save lives and do your job is gone.”
"My pack had all of my medical equipment in it," EMT Cheyenne Bray added. "I mean, on our way home today, if we come across a car accident, I mean, I’ve got my skills in my head but I don’t have a lot to help anybody anymore."
The firefighters had been helping crews to contain the Kincade fire in northern California for more than a week. Idaho Falls police are investigating the incident.
“I hope whoever took it realizes that [they] messed up more than just their lives. [They] messed up countless other people’s,” Adler told KRTV.
An Idaho resident has started a GoFundMe campaign to help the firefighters pay for new gear. In a day, it raised $650 of its $3,000 goal.
