VIDEO: A Seattle Fire Department crew was inside the Ballard Fred Meyer when a security guard rushed to warn them about people rummaging through their fire truck in the parking lot.
The firefighters noted the guard was "shaking" as he told them he had just been chased by a group of men after yelling at them in an attempt to interrupt the theft.
By the time the crew got back to their ladder truck, the thieves had made off with a generator, two chainsaws and two circular saws.
In an email about the incident, a deputy chief noted that it appeared the thieves "know exactly which compartments to go to."
"This robbery is a disappointing occurrence that has been repeated three times in recent months," an assistant chief wrote in an email about the thefts.