They were formed in 2001 by vocalist/guitarist Jeremy Enigk, bassist Nate Mendel, and drummer William Goldsmith, all of whom were previously members of Sunny Day Real Estate.

This lineup of The Fire Theft was three-fourths of the original personnel of Sunny Day Real Estate, with guitarist Dan Hoerner not rejoining his former bandmates.

Concerning future projects, Jeremy Enigk has stated on the official message board that he imagined "The Fire Theft will be back in full swing.

[4] In December 2008, Enigk offered an update on the proposed live Fire Theft DVD project: We sent it into a place and had a meeting with some guys about gathering all this material and editing it.

[5]Following the reunion of Sunny Day Real Estate in 2009 with all four original members, the situation of the band remained uncertain.

Enigk admitted at the time, that if Sunny Day Real Estate were to stay together, there would have been little purpose in the Fire Theft regrouping.