The Hutchinson News
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Someone keyed a Hutchinson Fire Department support pickup and two firefighters’ personal vehicles during the weekend.
The incident happened Sunday, on the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, when 343 New York firefighters died working to rescue people in the World Trade Center.
Fire Capt. Gerald Wiens figures it must have happened in the evening while firefighters helped at the fair and were away from the station.
Wiens showed the scratches on his pickup – which has a firefighters union tag on the front and firefighters license plate on the back – Wednesday evening.
All told, the scratches on his truck alone stretched about 6 feet down the passenger side and around onto the rear.
The vandal or vandals also scratched through the Maltese cross – the recognizable symbol of firefighters – on the fire department pickup.
Wiens said his pickup isn’t new, but he is careful to keep it clean and in good shape. He said he picked that up from his dad, who was a pretty serious “car guy,” and firefighting encourages people to be detail-oriented.
Wiens said he was angry when he found the damage Monday morning, and he hated to think how his fellow firefighter – who is at least as meticulous as Wiens when it comes to his pickup – reacted.
“He may have even vomited when he saw what happened to his truck,” he said.
Wiens said that he had to consciously focus on the appreciation people had expressed Sunday to keep from stewing over the trucks being keyed. He and other firefighters were guests at Countryside Baptist Church that day, and church members were grateful for the help they or family members had received from firefighters over the years, he said.
Copyright 2016 The Hutchinson News
All Rights Reserved