Maine Firefighter's POV Stolen From Station, Recovered

March 14--TROY, Maine -- Just after midnight Thursday, Shawn Quimby of the Troy Volunteer Fire Department woke up to respond to a page that there was a fire outside the Troy General Store.

He drove his 2006 Toyota pickup truck to the fire station, then donned his firefighting gear and went in the fire truck to the scene, which turned out to be a porta potty that apparently had been set on fire. When the fire crew returned less than an hour later from dousing the smelly fire, Quimby was upset to see that his truck was gone -- along with personal items including his tools and his wallet that were inside the unlocked truck.

"It's unbelievable, it really is. You try to do something for the community," he said later that morning. "I was really shocked."

Quimby, who said he had unfortunately left his keys inside the vehicle, notified police. His wife, Ashley Quimby, shared a photograph of the missing truck on Facebook asking people to help find it. By noon, the photo had been shared more than 2,500 times.

"Someone knows who has our truck," she wrote. "Bring out truck home!"

The family's plea was answered later that morning when a state trooper found it, the motor still running, somewhere in the neighboring town of Dixmont. The tools, wallet, credit cards and other items left inside hadn't been taken or damaged.

"I'm very, very pleased," said Shawn Quimby, who added that he had spent a long night first firefighting and then worrying, said.

Despite his lack of sleep, he said at noon that he was about to get in his truck to drive across the state to help take care of the animals at his sister's deer farm in Danforth.

"I couldn't afford another one," he said of the vehicle, adding that the events of the night, including the burning porta potty and the stranger's apparent joy ride in his pickup truck, seemed odd.

"It makes you on edge a little bit," he said.

The trooper investigating the theft was unavailable for comment Thursday. Efforts to speak with the fire chief about the apparent arson were unsuccessful.

Copyright 2013 - Bangor Daily News, Maine