Los Angeles Thieves Steal Strange Things, Putting Neighborhoods at Risk of Fires That Get Out of Hand
This year, about 100 fire hydrants have been stolen in Los Angeles County, California. This puts many neighborhoods at risk in case of a fire.
Fox News Digital was told by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that officers are looking into the theft of several fire hydrants from different parts of the county.
85 fire hydrants have been stolen from the rural parts of Los Angeles County just this year. In the city of Lynwood, 14 fire hydrants were also stolen.
Both places are watched over by the Century Sheriff’s Station, the department said.
Detectives from both the Century Station and the sheriff’s major crimes office are looking into the thefts.
“Fire hydrants play a crucial role in ensuring effective fire response and public safety, and their removal can have serious consequences,” the sheriff’s office said. “Don’t worry—the safety and well-being of our community are our top priorities.” We are fully committed to quickly fixing this problem and making sure all fire hydrants are fixed and working properly.
That’s right, Golden State Water owns the fire hydrants. They said that 302 of them have been stolen between 2023 and May of this year.
The water company said that the steals happen a lot in Verne, Hawthorne, Gardena, Hawthorne, Huntington Park, Inglewood, Los Angeles, Vernon, Walnut Park, West Rancho Dominguez, Westmont, and Willowbrook.
Gold State Water has lost $1.2 million because of the thefts. The business said it had told more than 36,000 customers about the thefts.
Changing fire hydrants is against the law at the government level. Golden State Water said that anyone found messing with the water system would be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
The water company has sent letters to scrapyards to warn them that it is against the law to take stolen fire hydrants. The company is still working with local police and fire departments.
Replacements for the stolen hydrants are being made by the company. Locks are being added to the devices to try and keep them from being stolen again.
According to Kate Nutting, general manager for Golden State Water Company’s Southwest Customer Service Area, the number of stolen fire hydrants is rising at a frightening rate. This puts our customers’ safety at risk. “To make sure our customers are safe, local fire departments need to be able to get to working fire hydrants right away.” To do this, we are locking fire hydrants and asking people to call the police right away if they see a crime in progress and to call our customer service center right away if they see a damaged or stolen fire hydrant.
Fox News Digital was told by the Los Angeles City Fire Department that fire hydrants have been seen being stolen in the county. But as of late, there have been no reports of hydrants being stolen in the City of Los Angeles.
