Symbol of fire prevention stolen during wildfire disaster
By Luis Monteagudo Jr.
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 27, 2004
JAMUL – How's this for rubbing salt in a wound: A Smokey Bear statue has been stolen from a federal fire station.
And it was taken while firefighters were battling the wildfires that devastated the region.
"Isn't that incredible?" said Bill Molumby, fire management officer for the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex. "It's pretty pathetic."
The statue was in front of the refuge's fire station just outside of Jamul and was discovered missing Nov. 3, said officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Federal officials released information on the theft yesterday.
The Fiberglas statue of Smokey holding a shovel in one hand weighed about 100 pounds and stood between 5 feet and 6 feet tall. The statue, visible from state Route 94, was bolted to a concrete stand and stood next to a sign that provides information about current fire dangers.
Crews from the station had been fighting fires in Riverside and San Diego counties and returned to find the statue had been wrenched from its stand.
The statue had been installed at the station a month before it disappeared. It was one of 25 such statues in the country and the only one of its type in San Diego County.
Flames had come within 30 yards of the statue, but it survived the blaze.
Greg Hultman, coordinator of a fire prevention program, estimated that the statue cost about $3,000. But it had more value than that.
"Smokey the Bear is pretty much the universal symbol for fire prevention," Hultman said.
A $200 reward is being offered for information leading to the recovery of the statue, said Barbara Simon, a spokeswoman for the refuge.
Anyone with information is asked to call the refuge office at (619) 669-6651 or Hultman at (619) 719-8565.
"I know the community was grateful for the effort of the firefighters and to have this happen is very disappointing," Simon said.
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