Thieves hit the Marble City Volunteer Fire Department early Friday, getting away with a one-ton utility-bed truck the department used to battle fires.

The 1973-model Ford, which the department had borrowed from the state, was parked outside the fire department. Authorities said tire tracks indicated the thieves fled down Lakeview Drive, which winds through a sparsely populated area in Sequoyah County toward Sallisaw.

“Whoever stole it isn’t real smart,” said Hilton Hixon, vice chairman of the Marble City Volunteer Fire Department Board of Directors. “You don’t steal from the state — they’re going to be out there looking for it and the people who stole it.”

Hixon said the department had removed the firefighting equipment from the truck. The Eastern Oklahoma Development District was going to pick up the truck when it found another fire department in need of the equipment.

The truck originally was painted a bright yellow color. The exterior was painted white after it was loaned to the Marble City fire department, and the interior was painted black. Hixon said the edges of the door reveal the truck’s original yellow paint job. The utility bed had red pinstripes and the Marble City logo was emblazoned on the exterior of both door panels.

“I saw it last night when I got home at about 10,” Hixon said. “A neighbor called this morning and said he noticed it missing when he got up at 5 o’clock this morning.”

Other than the tracks that lead away from the fire station, Hixon said there are few clues. Authorities did find, however, several footprints near the spot where the truck was parked.

“They had to come down by my house to get out of town,” Hixon said. “But I’m asleep at 2 o’clock in the morning.”

Hixon said the thieves probably had to refuel rather quickly because there wasn’t much fuel in the tank.

How to help

Anybody who may have seen the Marble City Volunteer Fire Department truck after it was stolen or has information about the theft is encouraged to call the Marble City Police Department at 776-2131 or the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office at 775-9155.

Reach D.E. Smoot at 918-684-2903 or Click Here to Send Email