Yet another North Shore Rescue cache has been looted.
This is the fourth time this summer that someone breaks into one of North Shore Rescue’s emergency equipment caches.
The team learned yesterday afternoon that the Norvan Falls cache had been broken into for the second time in as many months. The theft occurred sometime between July 12 and 15. Ropes and safety equipment have been stolen.
North Shore Rescue says they hadn’t even had time to stock the cache after it was first raided in June.
“We rely on this gear to keep our rescuers and public safe. We are going to have to put it back in place and secure it better,” says North Shore Rescue Search Manager Doug Pope.
Pope says they estimate the thefts will cost them more than $30,000, including replacing equipment, repairing damage and helicopter time required to get the gear back into the backcountry.
They are asking the public to keep their eyes open for their gear on the black market.
“It is $30000 of gear to us, I estimate the street value is in the hundreds of dollars,” says Pope.
Yesterday’s news comes just days after $5,000 worth of rescue equipment was stolen from a cache at Lynn Lake. In that case, all of the ropes inside the cache were taken, and the remaining gear was left out in the elements.
In June, a cache located in a remote area in Hanes Valley was broken into and $15,000 worth of equipment was stolen. Just days after that, another cache in North Vancouver was broken into. Some supplies were taken and a lock has been smashed.
Pope says late team leader Tim Jones initiated the cache system to aid in rescues.
Part of his vision was to not secure them well.
“It was hard to for us to fathom that anyone would steal safety and rescue equipment,” says Pope. “We have not had this problem in the past. They were locked, but it was a run-of-the-mill hardware store lock. The idea was that if we went out into the backcountry without a key and it is a life-and-death situation, we could force our way in; or if a member of the public needed to gain access, they could get in.”
But now, Pope says, they may have to rethink this strategy.
Even though North Shore Rescue has seen an increase in donations recently, Pope says there is not enough funds to replace all the missing gear.
“We are still asking people to donate online,” he says.
Meanwhile, North Vancouver RCMP is actively investigating the thefts and asking anyone with information to contact police.
WATCH: Volunteers with North Shore Rescue are stunned to find out one of their remote emergency caches — stocked with supplies to help rescue people — was broken into and ransacked in June.
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