Thieves broke into the Bertsch Fire Station located at 175 Humboldt Road in Crescent City Thursday night sometime between 4:00 pm on Thursday, March 5th, and 10:30 am on Friday, March 6th, when the break-in was discovered by firefighters.
The station is owned by the Crescent Fire Protection District and responded out of by Crescent City Fire & Rescue, the volunteer fire department serving the greater Crescent City area. A window was broken out of a large roll-up the door where entry was made into the front of the building.
Vital life-saving equipment was taken from a fire engine and from a rescue squad vehicle at the station. The items taken included:
- Two medical aid bags, blue in color, that included a small green oxygen bottle and regulator, masks and cannulas, blood pressure cuff and stethoscope, and miscellaneous bandaging supplies and airway supplies.
- Two trauma bags containing bandaging supplies, cervical spine collars, trauma shears, and other medical supplies.
- One Zoll AED Plus Automatic External Defibrillator unit, green in color in a black case, with the number “5114” on the unit itself.
- Two Orange Streamlight Litebox large rechargeable flashlights.
- One tool bag with miscellaneous hand tools, wrenches, and screwdrivers.
- Two gas cans with fuel.
The equipment is used by the fire department to respond to fire and medical emergencies and to protect community members and visitors, often in their most dire times. The replacement value of the stolen equipment is $7,500. This significantly impacts a small volunteer fire department working to serve their community.
Crescent Fire Protection District and Crescent City Fire & Rescue are working with the Del Norte County Sheriff Department on the case. If you have information about the theft of the equipment, please call the Del Norte County Sheriff Department at (707) 464-4191 or Crescent City Fire & Rescue at (707) 464-2421.
