Volunteer fire chief pleased to see charges laid after theft of life-saving equipment

The chief of a volunteer fire department in Barneys River, N.S., says he's glad to hear that charges have been laid in connection with the theft of life-saving equipment from his firehall earlier this fall.

"It's a relief to have that done," said Chief Joe MacDonald.

A set of Jaws of Life cutters, aHurst electric ram and two types of power saws equipmentused to extricate victims from car crashesor toaccessbuildings in an emergency were amongthe items that disappeared in late Octoberfrom the firehall inPictou County.

All told, the culprit hauled off around $35,000 worth of gear.

On Tuesday, Nova Scotia RCMPannounced they had executed a search warrant in Lyons Brook, N.S., and seized some or all of thestolen firefighting equipment, including the Jaws of Life.

A 26-year-old man from that community, which is near New Glasgow,faces a range of chargesincluding seven counts of break and enter, eight counts of theft, fraudand unauthorized possession of a firearm, RCMP said in a news release.

'Crime spree'

Police also seizeda stolen trailer as part of the investigation, as well asa loaded rifle anda shotgun with ammunition.

They said the arrest was the result of"a multi-jurisdictional crime spree" spanningPictou and Colchester counties, and East Hants,following a string of reported break-ins and thefts.

The accused has been remanded into custody and will appear in Truro Provincial Court on Wednesday. None of the charges against him have been proved in court.

While MacDonald hasn't seen the recovered gear yet, he said it will likely need to undergo testing to make sure it still operatessafely and mayneed to be replaced.

He said the Barneys River Volunteer Fire Departmentwasup and running less than a week after the theft. Volunteer firefighters have been using loaned equipment to get by,adding that there wasan outpouring of messages from firefighters across Nova Scotia in the aftermath.

"I wanted to make a point of thanking every fire department that reached out and offered spare gear to us. It's been overwhelming, from every end of the province," he said."It's nice to see."

MacDonaldalso said he hasbeen going through the process of making an insurance claim for the stolen equipment. A consortium of companiescalledthe Dexter Nova Alliance,which is involved with the Highway 104 twinning project, paid their deductible, he said.