San Jose fire house burglarized 2 times, prompting calls for security

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A San Jose fire station has been hit by thieves two times, prompting fire officials to highlight the need for enhanced security at city buildings.

The most recent break-in happened on Saturday at around 7:09 p.m. at San Jose Fire Station Engine 8, located in the 800 block of East Santa Clara Street.

Fire officials stressed that the safety and security of firefighters are of the utmost importance, calling for additional security measures.

"As we respond to hundreds of calls every day, we should not have to worry about our homes away from home being broken into and vandalized," said Matt Tuttle, president of Local 230. "This incident also took an engine company out of service, making them unable to respond to calls for service."

During the break-in, equipment and personal belongings were stolen from the firehouse. Although all items were recovered, a laptop was destroyed after being tossed into a creek.

Authorities arrested the alleged intruder, identified as an unnamed, unhoused resident living along Coyote Creek. The intruder allegedly broke through the front door. 

"We've had, that I know of, two break-ins at this fire station," said San Jose Fire Battalion Chief Robert Herrera. "It's stressful when you're worried about your personal property. You're worried about the security of the fire station." 

Fire officials said Fire Station Engine 8 is due to be replaced in the coming years with a new state-of-the-art station. In the interim, the city and department brass will consider ways of making this building and others like it, harder to break into. 

"Our police department did a great job arresting the alleged perpetrator and recovering some of the personal belongings that were stolen," said Mayor Matt Mahan.

Station 8 is a throwback building, dating back to 1949. It sits on a major thoroughfare, but also along the creek, which is dotted with unhoused encampments. Mayor Mahan says part of the solution to such crimes is getting unhoused people into temporary and permanent housing. 

"We need to get people out of our creeks, off our streets, into treatment, into shelters, and connected to other supportive services. We cannot continue as a city having thousands of people living outside," Mahan said. 

"Our building safety and security director is a deputy chief, and department safety management program director were here yesterday taking a look. And they’ll work with our Public Works Department to implement solutions for security," Herrera said.