Mr Turnbull, a senior firefighter, was among members of the Mosgiel volunteer fire brigade to respond to a fire in a caravan parked beside a house on Mure St, in Mosgiel, about 12.30am yesterday.
The fire gutted the caravan and caused minor damage to the side of the house, and was being treated as suspicious by police and fire safety investigators yesterday.
However, police were also called to the Mosgiel fire station after Mr Turnbull returned from fighting the caravan fire to discover his car had been entered while he was at the fire.
Among the items stolen from inside the vehicle were Mr Turnbull's GPS navigation unit, sunglasses and migraine medication, as well as coins, a gym identification card, several tools and even a spare pair of socks.
And it appeared whoever entered the car had lingered, staying long enough to spill beer and spirits on the floor and leave an empty bottle under one of the seats, Mr Turnbull said.
"It just kind of makes you feel really sick," he told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
"That's a nail in the coffin kind of thing."
Mr Turnbull faces an uncertain wait for news from his insurance company, after conceding the car had been left unlocked as he rushed from his car to the Mosgiel fire station.
"I was pretty sure I locked it - I pushed the button but obviously it hasn't locked, which is a real pain," he said.
Mr Turnbull's father, Mosgiel brigade station officer Russell Turnbull, said his son was "gutted" by the theft, which occurred as the brigade's volunteers managed a "good save" in protecting the house.
Three fire appliances and about 17 firefighters from Mosgiel and Lookout Point stations were called to fight the fire, and arrived to find the caravan engulfed by flames, he said.
The burning caravan was within 2m of the home, with heat from the flames cracking nearby windows and damaging the spouting, he said.
"Probably the first 200 litres of water went on to the house to cool it down . . . what was going to happen next was the big concern.
"To be quite honest I can't believe how lucky they are," he said.
The owner was not home at the time of the fire, and the caravan was an old shell used for storage and as a play area for children, he said.
A Fire Safety inspector was investigating the fire, which was being treated as suspicious.
It was not yet known if an accelerant had been used, but "it didn't start by itself", Mr Turnbull said.
Senior Sergeant Mel Aitken, of Dunedin police, said the caravan fire was "definitely suspicious" and an investigation was under way.
She was shocked to hear a firefighter's vehicle had been targeted by thieves while he was away doing a good deed.
"That's just filthy."
Police had fingerprinted beer bottles found in the car as part of their investigation into the theft.
