Firefighters from Burwell Fire Station were unable to respond to a house fire in Newmarket on Monday (28) 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 (January 27). They stole life-saving cutting gear used at road traffic collisions and other rescues.
Life-Saving equipment
How anyone can steal life-saving equipment from an emergency service is just beyond me"
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.”
