Published Wednesday, September 28, 2022, 0930 hours PT

OAKVILLE, WASHINGTON — Brazened thieves cut through the rear area of a fire station building that belongs to the Gray Harbor Fire District #1.

Sation 2 is located at 1880 Southbank Road in Oakville in Grays Harbor County.

Station 2 is quarters for Tender 1-21, Engine 1-21, and Aid 1-12.

All three emergency response vehicles were the targets and were gone through. Items that were removed were life-saving tools needed for first responders at accident scenes, medical calls, structure fires, and many emergency-related calls.

The Fire District also has another Fire Station (1) located at 108 E. Main Street, also in Oakville.

All of the vehicles, this District owns are not new by any means with the age of their apparatus from 1988 – 2010.

The Fire District, like the others in the Fire Service, are members of the community and are hurt by the actions of others.

Let’s show you what this Fire District is all about.

The Grays Harbor Fire District #1 is governed by three Fire Commissioners. This District includes Commissioners Dave Edwards, Larry Hamilton, and Larry Curfman, along with Fire Chief Carlton Rhoades and Assistant Chief John Hedgers.

There are two Fire Captains and three Lieutenants, along with 20 Firefighters, according to their website who are very dedicated to their Fire Department.

The theft was discovered when one of their members on his way to work around 0600, discovered their station was broken into.

Immediately, the Fire Chief and Sheriff’s Office were contacted.

The time of break-in and theft is estimated to be around sometime on Monday night to Tuesday early morning. Anyone who may have seen or heard anything is asked to come forward with information by calling the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center at 360-533-8765.

This is a major loss to the Fire District as they only have an annual budget of $300,000 and this loss is about a third of their budget.

Their call volume year-to-date as of August 2022, they have responded to 249 Aid/EMS calls and to 64 fires, for a total number of calls for both Fire Station 1 and 2 have reached 313.

The District has been serving the community of Oakville since 1947, with fire and EMS services.

Additionally, they also provide:

  • Fill Your Pool: they will fill your pool!
  • Emergency Call Box: An emergency button on the external side of their fire stations are available for emergency call activation. Press the button and it will recall firefighters back to the station to assist with your emergency.
  • CPR/First Aid classes: Learning to save a life is a gift to another. This is instructed by Grays Harbor EMS.

All of the pieces of equipment have their name engraved into them as “GHFD1”.

All Photos are the Credit: GHFD1.

GHFD1 Website: https://ghfd1.org/?fbclid=IwAR1qNrVF3u6RdRcdGgjhUVBuYOz5KlZl0CF5WdEUH_1oKSc5iZp1uxS16HA

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