For the second time in a week, the North Shore Rescue team has learned one of its backcountry emergency caches has been raided by thieves.
North Shore Rescue’s Hanes Valley cache was broken into and nearby helicopter pad vandalized beyond repair sometime in the last week.
“Another one. We learned late (Thursday) afternoon,” said Doug Pope, North Shore Rescue search manager. “It’s very similar to what happened at Hanes Valley. It looks like, very likely, the same individuals, the way it was carried out.”
It appeared the thieves used a nearby rock to break the lock and then made off with tents, sleeping bags, Therma-rests, ropes, gas stoves, first aid equipment and tools, this time from a cache near Norvan Falls, about 6.5 kilometres north of the Lynn Headwaters Regional Park parking lot.
In this case though, the thieves did not use a chainsaw to destroy the nearby helipad.
It’s possible both caches were ransacked on the same day as they are part of the same trail system, but the one at Norvan Falls wouldn’t be visible to hikers who were sticking to the trail, Pope said.
“This one’s closer to civilization and a more travelled route but it’s off-trail,” Pope said. “Someone has done some research to find out where they are. Other than that, we don’t have a real idea who would stoop so low as to vandalize and steal rescue equipment.”
Pope said the team has since checked on all of their remaining five caches and all of them are secure.
Both caches have been used by North Shore Rescue volunteers to help keep rescuers and lost hikers alive overnight while bad weather made it too hard to get out, Pope said.
The caches were an initiative of Metro Vancouver and Tim Jones, North Shore Rescue’s former team leader who died in January.
“It was that kind of scenario that Tim prepared our team for and now we’ve come to rely on these as a key part of our safety net. We need this equipment badly and we’re going to have to find a way to replace it quickly,” he said. “We’re thinking the two together are up above $20,000 in damage that we’re facing now.”
The team has been met with a show of support from the community since the thefts. Just hours after news of the second cache theft broke, Clint Mahlman, executive vice-president of London Drugs, put a message on social media that the company would be donating $10,000 to help replace the stolen and damaged gear.
In a post on the company website, officials said that when they learned about the vital equipment “being stolen from this volunteer group that does so much good for hundreds of people year round, we knew we had to help.”
North Vancouver RCMP investigators have collected evidence from both sites and are asking anyone who may have information to come forward.
Most of the stolen gear is marked with North Shore Rescue’s logo.
The team is still taking donations at northshorerescue.com.
