Thieves Steal Lifesaving Cambs Fire Kit
30 January 2019, 19:11 | Updated: 31 January 2019, 07:02
Firefighters say they weren't able to respond to a house fire in Newmarket earlier this week - because of a break-in at Burwell Fire Station.
The thieves had stolen 'life-saving' cutting gear the night before.
A crew from Soham managed to support them in the end though, which allowed firefighters to get everyone out of the house safely.
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Firefighters from Burwell Fire Station say they were unable to respond to a house fire in Newmarket on Monday (28th January) as their fire engine was unavailable following a break in at the station.
Thieves broke into the station on Reach Road sometime on Sunday night (27th) and stole some life-saving cutting gear.
With police scenes of crime officers at the station, the fire engine was not able to be called upon as the second fire engine to the scene of the house fire to support the Newmarket crew.
Chief Fire Officer Chris Strickland said:
"How anyone can steal life-saving equipment from an emergency service is just beyond me.
Luckily everyone was out of the house safely at the incident in Newmarket and we were able to send a crew from Soham to support Newmarket who responded quickly.
When responding to an incident, every second counts. It is vitally important our crews are able to get to an emergency as quickly as possible. Had there been an incident more locally, the delay in responding could have been much more significant."
