"Emergency Vehicles: Tools for Terrorism?" read the title in the INFOGRAM last week from the U.S. Fire Administration's Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

According to the article, EMR-ISAC "continues to learn about emergency vehicles that are occasionally reported as stolen or missing throughout the nation." It didn't say it was a major problem, but this was a "matter for deliberation and correction."

It said security experts feared terrorists might use stolen or copycat emergency vehicles as a means to deceive and transport explosives. The report went on to encourage fire service chief officers to be on the watch for unauthorized or illegal use of emergency vehicles, to step up security measures and to make sure vehicles are secured when unattended.

I find it hard to believe that a fire truck or ambulance would disappear and it wouldn't quickly make national news. A $100,000+ vehicle disappears without someone making a ruckus?

I called some contacts around the country to find out if this was a concern, or if they'd encountered such an incident in their area.

One metro chief said he's heard of ambulances stolen from an incident, but it's immediately reported to the police. Because reporters monitor the radios, it's quickly picked up by the news media, also. The chief said that generally the vehicle is recovered within an hour and is usually related to a joyride or drug-related escapade.

A longtime apparatus dealer said that he had never heard of a fire truck or ambulance being stolen and didn't recall concerns for vehicle security mentioned in the spec process on new vehicles.

The president of a western EVT Association also told me he hadn't heard of any emergency vehicles disappearing.  He did say his previous department loaned a rig to a neighboring department and the lack of a paper trail did cause them to lose track of the truck temporarily.

So if a fire truck or ambulance has actually disappeared without a trace somewhere in the United States, it's been kept very quiet. I'm not saying it hasn't happened (I hope readers will enlighten me if they're aware of an instance), or that it can't happen. But maybe that's the real message of the INFOGRAM: It could. If joyriders can steal an emergency vehicle, so can terrorists. We need to heighten our awareness of vehicle security. We need to think like terrorists to be prepared. In these disturbing times, we've learned that nothing is impossible for evil minds.

Janet Wilmoth, Editor