SHELL KNOB, Mo. -- A small Barry County fire department has been hit by thieves, forcing the district to shut down one of their rural stations.

Shell Knob firefighters became aware of the break-in Wednesday evening, and they calculate the loss is tens of thousands of dollars.

The suspects hit a rural station near Cape Fair, not too far from Table Rock Lake that just opened months ago. Authorities say they didn't leave much of a trail.

The thieves took practically everything except the trucks.  Nozzles, tools, bolt-cutters, attic ladders, air tanks, mobile radios, flash lights, chainsaws and firefighting gear were among the items stolen.

Chief Rusty Rickard said they were all stripped right off of trucks in a rural isolated station in the Mark Twain National Forest.

He estimates the stolen equipment is worth around $30,000.  For a seven-station district that operates on an annual budget of $200,000, it's the equivalent of a 15 percent cut.

"That's huge," said Rickard.

The mystery isn't just who done it, but why they did it.

Rickard said the thieves can't be too sophisticated because they left behind some expensive and necessary parts.

And some of the items may be difficult to sell, Rickard noted.

"Some of it would be items that would be pretty difficult to just take to a pawn shop," he said.

And for a fire district that literally builds their own trucks because it can't afford new ones, the chief said the real impact of the theft is on the neighboring community.

"That station is completely out of service," he said.

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