Thief Steals Truck, Equipment From Cherokee County Fire Station

A thief is putting a rural fire department in Cherokee County in a bind, after stealing a fire truck loaded with equipment.

The chief fears the loss could mean slower response times, going into what's expected to be a very busy fire season.

At the Lowry Volunteer Fire Station No. 3, there's a space where there should be a fire truck parked and ready for service, but it's empty after a thief broke into the station and stole a grass rig.

"Whenever this truck was taken, it wasn't taken from me personally it was taken from the community,” said Lowry Fire Department Chief, Larry Watts.

A Cherokee County deputy on a separate call, noticed the garage door open just after midnight Monday morning, and determined firefighters weren't out on a call.

"Taking away from the community, it's just very frustrating,” Watts said.

The department covers 50 square miles in North Central Cherokee County. They have a couple of other grass rigs, but Watts fears being down a truck, could delay response time.

"A lot of times we can get there and the first truck there may be able to get it out, but if that doesn't happen then we're there for hours after hours, trying to contain it,” he said.

With fires like we've seen in Oklahoma the past few years, any delays could be costly.

The truck is insured for $40,000, but it will cost much more than that to replace, especially when you include all the stolen equipment.

"Plastic tank, mounted pump, and a hose reel that was mounted on the tank, which was made by Darley, and then we had rakes and some shovels, we had a toolbox, with some medical supplies. We had emergency lighting,” Watts said.

It's not a quick process to replace a truck. It will likely take months to collect the insurance money, find a truck, and do the specialized outfitting needed; which means it won't be available in time for Oklahoma's wildfire season, which Watts predicts will be a bad one.

"We're going to have plenty of grass and brush growth this summer, when it dries out, it will be a heavy fire load,” Watts.

If anyone spots the missing fire truck, it's a Ford F-350, call the Cherokee County Sheriff's office at 918-456-2583.