Issued on: Wednesday 1 May 2019
Burglary at Central Fire Station
Just before midnight on Tuesday 30 April 2019, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service was unfortunately subject to a burglary at one of its city fire stations. A substantial amount of essential lifesaving equipment with an estimated value of £30,000 was taken from one of its appliances.
The theft of this specialist cutting equipment was a reckless act that not only puts lives of the local community at risk, but also has a financial impact on the Service with the cost of replacing the stolen equipment.
The specialist equipment is vital and is used by firefighters every day when dealing with road traffic collisions in the rapid extrication of people, and enables them to have the best possible chance of survival and recovery.
Paul Weston, Assistant Chief Fire and Rescue Officer, said: “To steal this equipment is totally irresponsible, showing a blatant disregard for public safety.
“This has the potential to prevent the nearest fire appliance responding to an incident. By not having the relevant equipment available it affects all of our communities.
“We are appealing for any members of the public that may have seen or heard anything, or know those responsible, to get in touch with Leicestershire Police and help us catch those that have done this, and prevent it from happening again.”
Anyone with any information is asked to contact PC 1908 Navekar on 101, quoting crime number 19*220178.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Interviews can be arranged through prior arrangement with Corporate Communications on the details below.
About the Service
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service provides emergency response, prevention and protection services from 20 stations across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. Its headquarters is based in Birstall, Leicester.
The Service’s prevention, education, enforcement and inspection programmes have resulted in significant reductions in the number of incidents. In the last ten years, fire-related incidents have reduced by 43 percent.
During 2016/17, the Service attended 694 road traffic collisions, of which 148 were extrications from vehicles, in addition to 2,259 fires. 272 schools were visited as part of the Service’s schools programme, delivering fire and road safety education to pupils. Staff organised or took part in 1,613 community safety events, promoting fire and road safety and arson prevention, and 145 Virtual Fatal Four (VF4) events as part of the Service’s young drivers’ road safety project.
Contact:
Corporate Communications
Direct: 0116 229 2195
corporate.communications@lfrs.org
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