Montana Firefighter Who Had Gear Stolen has "Nothing Good to Say" about Seattle Police Department

Seeley Lake area volunteer firefighters Sean Ellinghouse and his wife Kristy Pohlman competed in the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle over the weekend. The event is a charity to raise money to fight leukemia and lymphoma, but it appears someone was not in a charitable mood.

"I went back this year, just to prove that I could finish it," Ellinghouse said. "The next thing you know, I finished it, I get done, then that evening, someone decides to steal my truck with all of my firefighting gear and my wife's firefighting gear."

Ellinghouse took a rental car and made it back to Montana just in time to bring his wife, a teacher, to her classroom, but because his ID and other information was in the truck, it has been difficult to get his affairs in order.

Ellinghouse believes the truck (pictured above on surveillance footage) will be covered by insurance, but that picture is not so clear when it comes to the gear. The gear was not cheap, and is also not very easy to replace.

"With firefighting gear, you cannot just buy used stuff off of eBay or Craigslist," Ellinghouse said. "It's high end. If we added it all up, I'm guessing it would be upwards of $30,000 if we had to buy it all again brand new."

Ellinghouse said his truck will be covered by insurance, but that dealing with the firefighting gear and the authorities searching for his vehicle has been a big hassle.

"I'm not 100 percent positive on what the insurance company is going to cover as far as the contents for the fire equipment," Ellinghouse said. "I am in the process of dealing with the insurance company for the fire department to see what they will cover."

Ellinghouse says he has recieved lots of help from the public in Seattle, as well as the media, but had "nothing" to say that was positive about his experience with the Seattle Police Department.

"I work with law enforcement all the time in the firefighting business, and I have a lot of good friends who are in law enforcement, but I have nothing good to say about the Seattle Police Department, " Ellinghouse said. "They pretty much gave me and my wife the feeling of 'good luck, getting back to Montana.'"

Ellinghouse said he may travel back to Seattle for the stairclimb next year, but that if he does, he's renting a vehicle.