The Advocate
LORANGER, La. — Tangipahoa Parish sheriff's deputies are looking for someone who broke into a fire station, stole $7,500 in equipment and took a firetruck on a $15,000 joy ride, deputies and a volunteer fire official said Wednesday.
The truck, a minipumper the Loranger Volunteer Fire Department uses for all of its emergency calls, was found wrecked and abandoned in a ditch on La. 40 early Saturday, deputies and the official said.
Robert Morel, a volunteer with the Loranger department for 37 years, said he got a call about the mini-pumper from a friend who said the truck was in his yard.
Morel said he initially did not believe the truck was the department's but the caller insisted.
"I'm looking at the (truck's) door and it says, 'Loranger Volunteer Fire Department,' " Morel said his friend told him, "and I said, 'Uh-oh, that's us,' and my wife and I took a ride."
Deputies said the fire truck was driven on La. 443 south, and the driver lost control in a turn onto La. 40.
The truck hit an iron gate and a culvert before it ended up in the ditch, deputies said.
Morel said firefighters last used the truck on an emergency call about 2:30 a.m. Saturday.
Morel said the department's insurer put the cost to repair the truck's damage at $15,000 and agreed to cover it, but he said the work could take as long as 60 days.
Morel said he directs the volunteer department's business side.
The 33-member department now must use two trucks to do all things previously handled with the truck.
Morel said five sets of "turnout gear," protective clothing and helmets firefighters wear when they fight fires, also were stolen in the break-in. Morel said that equipment is valued at $7,500.
Morel said he was surprised someone would steal from a fire department.
"It's sickening. That's what it is," he said.
Deputies said they have collected evidence from the scene, but are seeking the public's help in investigating the case and are offering an unspecified reward.
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