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BELEN—As firefighters were working to contain a fire last week in Belen, someone decided to steal a bag of firefighting equipment from the scene.
Firefighters were called out at about 3:45 p.m., Thursday, April 17, to a field fire on North Main Street in Belen. Belen Fire Chief Charles Cox said the fire, which was caused by a downed powerline, had scorched a field before making its way to a nearby home.
The fire chief said the house sustained minor damage in the eves of the roof, but firefighters were able to quickly put out the flames and save the house.
Cox said the fire spread because of the high winds that day, which is the reason why there is a 60-day burn ban in Belen and the rest of Valencia County.
“We’ve had so many fires that we were hoping it would slow it down a little bit,” Cox said. “It kind of didn’t. We have had a run on fires, and Thursday was a combination of a lot of things.”
Both Valencia County and Rio Communities fire departments responded to the fire to help, but a few minutes after arriving, the county crews were called to help with the fire in Bosque Farms.
“We were able to get it under control, and everything went fine except at the end,” Cox said. “I’m kind of perturbed. I’m kind of pissed off. The reason I say that is we were using two hydrants and we were breaking them down and get them back in service.”
Cox said the department’s hydrant bag, which holds equipment to access the fire hydrants during an emergency, was stolen from the scene. The fire chief said the stolen items is worth about $1,500.
“If your colleagues, neighbors, friends or family had a fire and your family was in need, we couldn’t provide adequate water to that fire because what you took from us we can’t hook up to any hydrant,” said Cox directly to the person who stole the yellow-colored bad with lettering on it.
“Who would take that? These idiots don’t know what they’ve done and the repercussions if we had a fire,” the chief said.
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Cox said he is ordering new equipment, which he said would arrive this week. He also said he has made a police report, and is hoping whoever took it will return it — no questions asked.
“I’m very disappointed,” Cox said. “If it can happen here, it can happen to any fire department.”
Belen Mayor Robert Noblin also asked if anyone knows where the hydrant bag is to turn it in at any city building.
“Someone out there knows full well where that equipment is,” Noblin said. “I would beg, ask nicely that you return it, drop it off to a city location — no questions asked.
“In Belen, the public rallies together,” he said, “and someone will find it. I’m confident we’ll get it back.”
