An inmate firefighter took the meaning of Independence Day to a new level when he stole a fire engine July 4 in an apparent escape attempt, authorities say. The 31-year-old Orange County, Calif. man was fighting a vegetation fire in Shingle Springs, east of Sacramento, when he apparently dropped his hose for a shot at freedom. He stole a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection fire engine and drove it through a fence onto a nearby Rack-It Truck Racks business, before crashing into one of the parked vehicles on the lot, authorities said. He also hit a tree and another fence before becoming stuck in a ditch, surveillance video showed. The inmate had been working with the CAL Fire Amador-El Dorado Unit to extinguish a blaze started by fireworks, CAL Fire spokesperson Alisha Herring told The Epoch Times. The incarcerated firefighter had been assigned to Growlersburg Camp, which deploys incarcerated firefighter hand crews to …