Two men have been arrested on the Kenai Peninsula on vehicle theft charges after they were discovered with one of several vehicles stolen during a looting rampage at a firefighters' compound in Palmer over the weekend, police said.

They are the first two suspects jailed in connection with the ransacking of the headquarters of the Pioneer Peak Hotshots, a crew of firefighters that travels around Alaska and the Lower 48 battling wildfires. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of firefighting equipment was looted, five vehicles were stolen and nearly 20 cars were broken into at the compound.

Kenai police said they made the arrests Tuesday after they discovered that a traffic violation they investigated Sunday on the Kenai Spur Highway, about two miles west of Beaver Creek, involved one of the pickups stolen in Palmer.

The driver of the stolen Ford F-150 was David Fetters, 24, of Anchorage, according to Kenai police.

Fetters and his passenger, William Gregory, 24, of Kenai, were charged Tuesday with first-degree theft, said Mitch Langseth, a Kenai Police Department investigator.

Kenai police originally stopped Fetters, who also has lived in Kenai and Palmer, for speeding on Sunday and they arrested him that day for driving with a suspended license. He was still in jail when the police learned that the pickup had been stolen from Palmer over the weekend.

The pickup was not listed as stolen during the traffic stop -- the burglaries at the firefighters' compound were not discovered until Monday -- so Kenai police released it to Gregory, Langseth said. But when it turned out to be one of the vehicles involved in the burglary and vandalism at the Alaska Forestry building in Palmer, Kenai police officers tracked down Gregory, seized the truck and charged the two with felony theft. The two were in jail at Wildwood Pre-Trial Facility Wednesday night, Langseth said.

Both men have been convicted for prior criminal offenses, according to state court records.

The pickup truck had sustained some damage: Its factory stereo was ripped out and a window was broken, the investigator said.

The removal of the dash stereo was "one of the dumbest things I've ever seen," Langseth said, noting that it was unlikely that a local pawn shop would agree to take it.

Kenai police will continue to investigate any portion of the overall looting case that has trickled down to the peninsula, Langseth said.

"We'll clean up what little mess came down here," he said.

Alaska State Troopers are handling the investigation of the looting in Palmer. The thieves broke into cars, trucks, offices and lockers and took firefighters' computers, digital cameras, backpacks and climbing gear. They also urinated on the firefighters' clothing. Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said another of the stolen vehicles has been discovered abandoned with some of the stolen property left inside. She said troopers will make public a list of all the stolen property at some point this week.

Anyone with information on the stolen items or the assault on the firefighters' headquarters is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 745-333 or troopers at 745-2131.

Meanwhile, Anchorage Firefighters Local 1264 has planned a spaghetti-feed fundraiser for the Pioneer Peak Hotshots and Gannett Glacier Wildland Firefighting Crews. The event is from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Fire Station 1 on the corner of Fourth Avenue and A Street. The minimum donation is $5.

Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.

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