Firefighters need most of the stolen items for second jobs. The loss means they’re losing both property and income.

HOUSTON — Thieves stole a paramedic’s car from Houston Fire Station 56 while she and fellow firefighters responded to an emergency call.

Firefighters reported several other thefts while on call in recent months, police said.

“It’s sad but you just can’t trust people (anymore),” Captain Keith Wedgeworth of Houston Fire Station 56. “Everything turns up missing sometimes.”

Captain Wedgeworth said the car theft is merely the latest rip-off.

“They’re getting blowers and guys’ tools out of their toolboxes,” he said. “If it’s not locked, they’re just looking in or going through it.”

In November, a man on a bicycle, believed to live behind the fire station, broke into two pickup trucks belonging to firefighters. The crimes happened one hour apart.

The thief stole tools, brake pads and wrench-socket set.

Two weeks ago, someone else snatched keys from a jacket and took the paramedic’s car.

Firefighters need most of the stolen items for second jobs. The loss means they’re losing both goods and income.

Their station has a new gate and anytime firefighters leave, they padlock everything possible.

“We just request what we can, try to get more preventative stuff: higher fence, razor wire, locked gates, electric gates, just something to protect us (and) our stuff,” Captain Wedgeworth said.