By Laura French
KLAMATH COUNTY, Ore. — Officials say an Oregon fire district’s only ambulance was sabotaged and rendered inoperable earlier this month.
A Rocky Point Fire District crew discovered the problem when a call came in on April 8 and they were unable to start the engine, according to the Herald and News. The crew was forced to call for a county ambulance to respond to the emergency and the Rocky Point ambulance was towed and examined by a mechanic.
The mechanic determined last week that someone had maliciously damaged the ambulance’s engine, officials say. The engine will need to be replaced, which will cost the fire district an estimated $20,000, officials told KOBI 5.
The fire district is currently borrowing an ambulance from Basin Ambulance until a new engine can be acquired. Rocky Point Fire District Chief Diann Walker-Pope called the sabotaging of an ambulance “horrible” and “deplorable,” according to the Herald and News, and said the ambulance had been kept inside the fire station bay, where there were no signs of a break-in.
District Medical Director Jay Williams the crime was comparable to “attempted murder,” because the ambulance could have been unable to respond to a life-threatening emergency, according to the Herald News.
The Klamath County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.