Emergency equipment stolen in November from the Silverton-San Juan Fire and Rescue Authority was located this week near the bottom of a steep mountain.
“It’s definitely a mystery,” said Mike Maxwell, assistant fire chief. “But to take emergency equipment like that is just beyond the pale.”
In November, the fire department ordered 18 emergency radio pagers at a cost of about $10,000. On Nov. 16, UPS delivered the packages to the station at 1450 Greene St. in Silverton.
But while the boxes sat outside, someone stole them.
Then, two weeks later, someone stole more boxes left outside the station that contained six fire helmets, which cost $3,000.
The fire department put out a plea on social media to the person who stole the boxes, saying if the emergency equipment was returned, there would be no questions asked.
But no one came forward.
“It was a bad deal for us,” said Fire Chief Gilbert Archuleta. “Those pagers are used to page out emergencies and those helmets protect our guys when they’re fighting fires. Who would take emergency equipment that protects people?”
The fire department thought it would never see the equipment again and would have to take the loss. The Silverton-San Juan Fire and Rescue Authority is an all-volunteer crew that works on a tight budget.
But then, on Monday, the equipment turned up.
That day, Fort Lewis College professor David Gonzales took his geology class of about 22 students up to Silverton to hike around and create geologic maps of the area.
The class was in the Deadwood Gulch area, which is about 1½ miles south of Silverton off U.S. Highway 550. The spot has a waterfall on the west side of the highway and a steep drop-off on the east side.
While the class was hiking down the steep slope, they found a box that contained six emergency radio pagers. And on Tuesday, they found the remaining pagers and the package containing the helmets.
“We found everything they were missing,” Gonzales said. “They were just thrown off the highway. Some were hundreds of feet down the hill, and a few were just a hundred feet off the road. It’s pretty crazy.”
The fire department, of course, was delighted by the news that the equipment had been found. Six pagers tested Monday were still operational, and the rest are being tested Tuesday. And the helmets were in good condition.
“We’re buying them lunch,” Maxwell said of Gonzales and his class.
The boxes were unopened, which leads the fire department to believe the person who stole the packages took them, drove up a big hill and tossed them off the mountain.
It’s not likely the culprit will be found, Maxwell said, but at least the fire department has its important, life-saving equipment back.
“I guess I can understand if someone stole a bunch of boxes of Omaha steaks,” Maxwell said. “But this is emergency equipment that saves people’s lives.”
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