Dalton Homeowner Steals Fire Truck During His Own House Blaze, Nearly Hits Crew

Firefighters were still battling flames tearing through a home on Faraway Road in Dalton, New Hampshire early Tuesday when the homeowner allegedly jumped into one of their trucks and took off, ramming another engine, running over active water lines, and narrowly missing three crew members before crashing the vehicle down the road.

New Hampshire State Police say troopers responded around 3:50 a.m. to assist Dalton Fire & Rescue at the burning home at 837 Faraway Road, where they identified the homeowner accused of stealing the emergency vehicle as 30-year-old Nestor Roman II, according to a New Hampshire State Police statement. As reported by CBS News Boston, police say the man stole a firetruck while crews battled the fire at his own home.

Before he got away with the Whitefield rescue truck, Roman first tried to make off with a different rig entirely. Per the Caledonian Record, he initially attempted to steal a 1985 Dalton Fire Department engine before successfully taking a 2009 Ford F-550 rescue vehicle belonging to the neighboring Whitefield Fire Department, which had responded to help under mutual aid.

Truck Rammed Into Engine, Ran Over Hoses

Once behind the wheel of the Whitefield truck, state police say Roman drove it into another active Whitefield fire engine, ran over multiple active water supply lines, and narrowly missed hitting three firefighters who were on scene. The report notes fire crews were taking defensive positions outside the structure after confirming no one remained inside the home at the time.

The Jefferson Fire Department reported that two pieces of fire apparatus sustained heavy damage in the incident and were likely taken out of service, though mutual aid crews maintained defensive firefighting operations without any firefighter injuries, according to details published by Newport Dispatch. That loss of equipment lands hard on small Coös County departments, which lean on shared engines and tankers from neighboring towns to keep coverage running during major fires.

Flight Down Faraway Road Ends in a Crash

Roman then fled east on Faraway Road in the stolen rescue vehicle, swerving off the roadway, striking a firefighter's personal vehicle, and destroying wooden fences on two separate properties before the truck finally crashed, the same account states. State troopers, some of whom were already at the fire scene, tracked him down after a Dalton neighbor called 911 to report that the stolen fire vehicle had crashed on their property and that a man was trying to take items off their porch, per the state police statement.

Roman now faces three counts of felony reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, felony theft by unauthorized taking, burglary, four counts of conduct after an accident, obstructing government administration, and resisting arrest, according to the Conway Daily Sun. The reckless conduct counts stem specifically from driving the heavy rescue truck toward emergency personnel on the fire ground.

Facing Years Behind Bars on Multiple Felony Counts

Under New Hampshire Revised Statutes § 631:3, reckless conduct with a deadly weapon is classified as a Class B felony carrying up to seven years in prison per count, a legal standard covering motor vehicles used in a manner capable of causing serious injury or death, according to Justia Law. With three separate felony counts of that charge alone, Roman faces substantial prison exposure even before the theft, burglary, and other charges are factored in.

State police confirmed Roman was transported to the Coös County jail and was scheduled for arraignment Wednesday in Lancaster District Court. No update on the outcome of that hearing was available at the time of this report.

Fire Trucks Left Running Make Easy Targets

The Dalton case fits a pattern Hoodline previously reported on: fire apparatus thefts during active emergencies remain an ongoing public safety hazard nationwide because engines and rescue trucks are routinely left unlocked and idling at fire grounds to power pumps, lighting, and specialized tools. That same operational necessity, keeping trucks ready to run at a moment's notice, is exactly what leaves them vulnerable when someone with bad intentions is standing nearby.