$45,000 of equipment stolen from Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest hotshot firefighters
The Bellingham Herald 1/30/2021 David Rasbach, The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)
Jan. 30 Thieves stole an estimated $45,000 in wild land firefighting equipment from the U.S. Forest Service Hotshot Compound near Concrete in December, according to a Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest news release.
The Forest Service is now asking for the public s help in getting the vital equipment back and bringing the thieves to justice.
The equipment was stolen the weekend of Dec. 18-21 from the Koma Kulshan Guard Station, which is the home base of the Baker River Hotshot Crew, a highly-trained fire suppression crew founded in 1976. The 20- to 22-person crew spends summers battling large, high-priority forest fires across the U.S., and when needed responds to other emergencies, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.