Bottle bandits strike again against one Chemung County fire department

TOWN OF ELMIRA, N.Y. ( WETM ) — A fire department in the Town of Elmira has been hit again by thieves after the station reported a trailer was stolen this week.

According to a Facebook post from the East Hill Fire Department on Wednesday, July 24, a towable trailer used to collect returnable cans and bottles was taken from a space at the corner of Watercure Hill Road and Bowlby Road.

The fire department said “The money we collect from the donations of bottles and cans from our residents is used to supplement our fire equipment purchases for the East Hill Fire Department,” the post said.

The post said that the trailer will have to be replaced, which will considerably set back the fundraising goal.

This is not the first time the department had items stolen from them after bags of battles and cans were taken from a donation trailer on the property in October.

At the time, 18 News spoke with East Hill Fire Department Captain Bud Baldwin who said that the station had been hit twice by thieves, with another fire department down the road seeing similar thefts.

The department was fortunate in October when a firefighter caught thieves with the cans and bottles and had the men take them back.

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