A Jeep belonging to a firefighter deployed to combat the Eagle Creek fire was discovered stolen from the Cowlitz Fire District's Kalama Station on Thursday morning.

Jake Sorensen has been with the department for six years and told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he's never had anything stolen from him while on duty.

KATU first reported the theft on Facebook and shared a photo of the stolen vehicle, noting that it's currently without its top canopy. The Washington state license plate is BGP9355.

Jake Sorensen's Jeep, license plate number WA BGP9355. It currently does not have its top.

Another vehicle, this one a county-owned Ford F350, was also stolen from the station. The pickup was later found in Gresham.

Sorensen said that thieves also made off with a $12,000 55-inch touchscreen, parts of the station's server and that a crew member also had his room raided.

"The whole station was ransacked," he said.

But the setback isn't first and foremost on Sorensen or his fellow firefighters' minds.

"Just because our stuff's stolen doesn't mean the fire quits burning," he said.

The Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office has a person of interest in the case, according to a news release, but are not publicly identifying the suspect.

It's also the second such incident firefighting agencies reported this week. In Brookings, a crew from Lane County had thousands of dollars in gear stolen as they slept. Sorensen said it's unsurprising that firefighters are targeted when they're on duty.

"They know we're gone for up to 16 days at a time," he said. "And we're heading back out tomorrow to continue the battle."

The Eagle Creek fire, now 5 percent contained, has so far scorched approximately 31,000 acres of the Columbia River Gorge, as of the latest estimates. Oregon State Police say the fire was started when a 15-year-old from Vancouver, Washington, tossed a firecracker off a hiking trail.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

@edercampuzano

ecampuzano@oregonian.com