"This morning I came in about 8:30, both locks were missing, the roll up door was wide open and the trailer was gone. So not only the cost of the fireworks but a $3,500 trailer was stolen too, so not a good morning for us," Bitter said.
Bitter estimates it took the thief or thieves 5 minutes total. Armed with the right tools, they made it look easy getting in and out. "What we think is they sawed the lock off. Gained access here, rolled the door up and made off with the trailer."
For 18 years, this stand has sold fireworks to benefit campfire kids. The non profit organization helps pay for those who cannot afford to attend summer camp.
Monday Patrick Civiello bought what little was left for sale. He didn't hear about the short supply until he pulled up. "This is all for charity and for a good cause and I can't believe that somebody would actually do that so I hope the police catch them."
Bitter assumes thieves may have followed him from the fireworks stand at Howard and Schnoor to the storage facility about a mile away.
Even more frustrating, most of the items in the stolen trailer are the top sellers. "Flashing fountains, snakes, triple gemini, molten pot, en fuego."
Even though bitters rushed to try to get at least some fireworks to sell, but getting them on the Fourth of July wasn't easy. "TNT is, everything is out in the field so there's not a lot of restock available so they gave us what they could to make the booth look as full as possible but our selection is not as good as it normally is."
You can help find the stolen trailer. Its a 14 foot Wells Cargo trailer with rotary emblems on it. The license plate number is 4EA1623. If you see it, please call Madera Police.
Right now, the campfire kids volunteers are trying to figure out whether the fireworks are insured, if not, there will be far fewer campers this year.
