Missing antique fire bell returned in perfect shape
Published: March 9, 2005
An antique bell missing for four months from a Durham fire station has been returned - and in better shape than when it went missing.
The 60-pound brass bell was found by firefighters at station No. 6 on Tuesday afternoon, inside a cardboard box left at a side door to the station. Nearby, parked inside a bay, was the 1890s horse-drawn fire engine of which the bell was part before it disappeared in November.
The city Fire Department had offered amnesty to its own employees for the return of the bell, valued at about $1,000. But that did not bring anyone forward. So last week, Durham police offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of the thief.
When firefighters found the bell, they called police. Rain had made the box soggy and the bell wet, so investigators used a hair dryer so they could dust for fingerprints.
Firefighters didn’t hold out much hope of cracking the case that way - whoever had been in possession of the bell had kept it polished to a shine.
Firefighter T.J. Hardiman first noticed the bell missing back in November, when he lifted his 2-year-old son Connor to ring it and found only an empty space.
Battalion Chief Ernest Jannetta said Tuesday that the bell would be taken to the department’s administrative office for safekeeping. There was no immediate word on whether it would be returned to the antique engine
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