By John Branton
The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington)

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Leah Edwards, spokeswoman for Fire District 6, holds a brass hose connection that firefighters carry in their trucks in case thieves have removed one from a building that's burning. Next to Edwards is a connection where firefighters can pump high-pressure water to feed sprinklers in Hazel Dell Towne Center.

A firefighter gives a close-up view of a brass hose connection that now rides in fire engines. Metal thieves have been targeting the devices recently, removing them from buildings and making it more difficult to fight fires and more perilous for building occupants and fire crews.

Imagine this terrible scene.

A fire breaks out in a large building, perhaps an apartment complex or a multistory business structure.

Heat and toxic smoke are spreading, and people are choking and crawling on the floor.

Firefighters rush to the scene, haul out their heavy hoses and run — using all their strength — to attach a hose to the heavy brass connection on the building's ground floor.

But the connection is gone. A metal thief with a large pipe wrench has twisted or broken it off, maybe weeks earlier, and disappeared.

The building's sprinkler system tank is running dry. But now there's no way to connect the hose to keep the sprinklers going.

And there's no way to connect the hose to pump high-pressure water into the vertical standpipe in the stairway.

That means firefighters must drag their heavy hoses up several flights of stairs. It's much harder and slower than carrying shorter segments up and getting water from the standpipe connection on any floor.

A situation like this hasn't happened here during a fire.

But such thefts started increasing about a month ago, officials say.

A half-dozen brass hose connection thefts have been reported to the Vancouver Fire Department, said Lead Deputy Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli.

Another 18 have been reported in Clark County Fire District 6, said spokeswoman Leah Edwards.

District 6 firefighters protect the area including Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek, Felida, Lake Shore, Sherwood and north to the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds.

More such thefts may have gone unreported, officials say.

As a result, Edwards and other officials have been warning residents about hose connection thefts.

"We want the public to be aware of what's going on, so they can help us," Edwards said. "They can keep an eye out and notify law enforcement."

To prevent a tragedy, fire marshals are working to find ways to slow or stop the thieves.

Both fire departments recently purchased spare connections, which they carry in firetrucks.

That could help if the thieves simply unscrewed the connections, without stripping the threads, Scarpelli said.

But building supervisors often find the entire assembly, including the pipes, damaged or removed.

A similar problem is that, once someone removes the metal cap to get at the brass, something might block the system. It might be a bird's nest or another object that found its way inside.

When a missing cap is found, the system must be backflushed according to city code, said Vancouver Fire Marshal Jim Crawford.

Building owners also can take steps to make it harder for thieves, by drilling holes in the assemblies and inserting screws, pins or other hardware.

Earlier in April, fire marshals with Vancouver and Clark County prepared a joint bulletin on protecting the assemblies.

"By increasing the amount of time it takes to disassemble and remove fire protection equipment, it increases the odds that a metal thief will abandon the theft, or that a passerby will see the thief and alert law enforcement," the bulletin says.

The bulletin details several ways that contractors can add mechanical protections, including using special glues. Some thread compounds are believed to be so strong that thieves would need to apply intense heat to loosen them.

Local police officers and sheriff's deputies also have become aware of the problem.

Some have contacted scrap metal buyers in the Portland area in an attempt to dissuade them from buying stolen items. The brass connectors are easily recognized and many are stamped "fire department connection," "sprinkler system" or "standpipe auto spkr."

But much of the problem, Vancouver police and Portland detectives have told The Columbian, is that Oregon's law still allows scrap buyers to pay cash on the day of the sale.

Washington's tougher law, now in effect, requires scrap metal buyers to wait 10 days and mail a check to the seller.

That's why methamphetamine-addicted metal thieves are stealing metal in Clark County and taking it to Portland, said Detective Jim Watson with the Vancouver Police Department and Detective Mark Georgioff with the Portland Police Bureau.