Hardin County fire chief describes burglary of station equipment

HARDIN CO., Tenn. — Hardin County fire chief Melvin Martin says a volunteer fire station in the Hookers Bend community was burglarized sometime between Sunday and Tuesday afternoon.

He says someone cut a hole in the back of the building to steal several saws, a radio and the batteries out of the tanker truck. The total cost of property stolen added up to over $1500.

They found out about the burglary when the volunteers tried to respond to a fire at one of their own firefighter’s houses. Martin says they couldn’t respond because there were no batteries in the truck.

“It’s just unbelievable that somebody would go into a volunteer fire station and steal and disable the trucks where we can’t respond to emergency calls,” Martin said.

Other stations were able to respond to the fire though, and it was contained to the kitchen.

If you have information on this theft, you’re asked to call the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office at 731-925-9007.