These thieves have a lot of brass

Vandals have removed brass fire-hose connections from at least 34 buildings in Cambridge during the past few weeks, according to Captain Gerry Mahoney of the Cambridge Fire Department.

``We're assuming they're doing this to get money from the scrap metal," Mahoney said, ``but we don't know yet. The police are investigating."

The brass fittings provide the means for a fire hose to hook up to a building's sprinkler system or to advance hose lines in a building with a standpipe system, he said. The purloined fittings create a potentially life-threatening hazard: firefighters on the ground may not be able to get water to those battling a fire on an upper floor.

Mahoney guessed that most fixtures weigh between 15 and 20 pounds. One pound of brass scrap metal was going for about $2.50 per pound last week, according to a metal prices website, up substantially from its value a year ago.

Somerville has also been facing the same problem. Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher said his department was first alerted to the issue last month when the owners of a high-rise apartment building on Highland Avenue called to ask them when they were going to bring back those brass fittings.

``After that we started a search and discovered 12 more missing," he said. ``Now we have a total of 18 , that we know of."

Removing the fixtures takes skill, Mahoney said. ``Somebody knows what they're doing. At the CambridgeSide Galleria mall, the thief had even swept the street afterward.

``You need special tools to remove these, and possibly experience in the trade. I don't want to cast aspersions," he added, ``but if it smells like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck. . . Well, you know. It's a duck."

He also said that both the exterior and the lesser-known interior brass connections were stolen from the parking garage at 1 Kendall Square.

Kelleher agreed with Mahoney that the thieves seem to have specialized knowledge.

``At MIT, brass valve caps were taken from pipes in the stairwells of a few buildings," he said. ``In a wet-pipe system like that you can't take the valve because water would spray out. But you can remove the cap. Someone's pretty sharp in what they're taking."

Kelleher said MIT lost about 200 valve caps. ``The thief must have some knowledge of fire departments or sprinkler systems."

Fire trucks have been told to inspect buildings in their districts for missing connections because many property owners may not even realize they've been stolen. Property owners are responsible for replacing the connections.

Police have not yet made any arrests, according to the public information officer for the Cambridge police, Frank Pasquarello .

``These thefts could lead to a serious fatality," said Kelleher. ``It could make fighting a fire a longer and more intense operation."

He also said many of the thefts are taking place during the daytime. ``No one knows that they're doing something wrong," he said.

In August, Cambridge police investigated a similar crime -- thefts of copper downspouts from homes and piping from constructions sites.

The price of copper spiked to $3.65 in August and September. Last month police arrested David Pietrantonio , 23, of Everett, and charged him with stealing copper from a construction zone in East Cambridge.

According to Pasquarello , Pietrantonio was a security guard patrolling East Street Yards, near a construction site.

Police were called to the scene of a car accident and found lengths of copper in Pietrantonio's vehicle.