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SULLIVAN, MO (KTVI) - While Sullivan Missouri firefighters were battling an apartment complex blaze someone stole one of their fire trucks.

Sullivan Fire Chief Rick White said, one unit was burning when they arrived and the flames were spreading, “It was engulfed in flames.”

The fire broke out around three Thursday morning in a four unit building. 30 firefighters from four different departments were called out. Two of the units were vacant five people lived in the other apartments everyone escaped injury.

While firefighters were putting their lives on the line someone stole one of their trucks, an $80,000 brush truck loaded with expensive emergency supplies. Chief White said, “Never happened here it’s a marked truck says fire all over it red lights on it.” People were stunned something like that could happen in their community. Rick Webb is a former firefighter, “It’s pretty sad it makes you feel bad that society around here is capable of something like that.”

Police started searching and two hours later the fire truck was found about a half mile away on a dead end street, nothing taken and it was not damaged. Chief White added, “It’s just different, we never had anything happen like that before.”

It turns out there maybe another crime to solve besides the stolen truck. Fire Investigator Jim Schumacher said, “I did some photographing, I did some diagraming, I’m just getting ready to go back in and start processing.” The fire investigator with the county prosecutor’s office was called in. Narcotics detectives were also investigating and a source indicated meth making supplies may have been discovered at the scene. The two people who lived in the apartment where the fire started were nowhere to be found when fire crews arrived.